Its Too Late To Apologize
by TwilightTwinz
Summary: Set after Edward leaves in New Moon, a new family of Vamps arive in the rainy town of Forks and convince Bella that she has every right to hate Edward for breaking the promise he made in Phoenix. Based on the Song. TheSheWolf and EdwardCullen'sGirlfriend.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm holdin' on your rope  
Got me ten feet off the ground  
And I'm hearin' what you say  
But I just can't make a sound  
You tell me that you need me  
Then you go and cut me down...  
But wait...  
You tell me that you're sorry  
Didn't think I'd turn around...  
And say..._

_That it's too late to apologize  
It's too late...  
I said it's too late to apologize  
It's too late_

_Too Late to Apologize – OneRepublic_

* * *

BellaPOV

"No dad! I refuse to go live with Renee! I don't want to go back! Dad, please don't make me go back. Please?" I was crying at this point. He couldn't make me go. He just couldn't.

"Aww-Bells, don't cry." Charlie never was good with tears. Or emotions at all for that matter. He came up to me, where I was sitting in the kitchen with my head buried in my hands, and put an awkward arm around me.

"Look, if you promise to pick yourself up within the next month, I won't make you go live with Renee. But you have got to get better, and maybe she can help with that. But you know I would never do anything to hurt you. I'd be doing this to help you."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before." I grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, dad."

"You know he's not coming back Bells." I shuddered, even hearing the word 'he'. _Jeez, I'm pathetic._ I had to wrap my hands around my torso to keep from collapsing. I honestly didn't think I was all that bad. I thought I was cordial and better than I was 6 months ago, when I was in my actual depression. But apparently I still have a long way to go from being better.

"Yes dad, I know. So . . . one month?" I wiped the tears from my face and tried to give my dad a reassuring smile. It came out more like a grimace.

"Yes, and if you think it'll help, in 2 weeks Dr. McKenzie and his wife and kids are moving from Juno, Alaska, and Dr. McKenzie is a therapist. He's one of the best in the world, and I really think it could help."

_No! No! No! No! NO!_

"No," I said calmly and fiercely.

"Why won't you give it a chance?"

"Because I'm perfectly fine." Even as I said it, I knew it was a lie. I got out of bed, did my homework, ate my food, but it was like I wasn't even alive. Even _I_ realized that.

"Bella, do you honestly think you are okay?" Ouch. That one stung.

"I told you, I'm perfectly fine! Just leave me alone, please." I stood up from the table and ran to my room, slamming the door behind me. _I hope that broke something._

An hour later Charlie was knocking on my door.

"Go away."

Ignoring my request, he opened my door and walked in anyway.

"I said go away."

"I'm a cop, I can do whatever I want," Charlie joked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah well, contrary to popular belief, you have to follow the rules like everybody else."

"Look, I know you think you're fine, but you don't see what I see. Everyday you come down and you put on this facade like everything is all right, and we both know that's not the case. I hear you screaming at night, Bells, and it breaks my heart. It makes me want to search every inch of the world and rip that kid limb from freaking limb, because I'd do that for you. But I can't do that. What I _can_ do is go to this doctor, and ask him to help you. Because you need help. Do this for me, Bells. Do this for Renee. No, scratch that. Do this for _yourself_. Please?"

I nodded my head and wiped the tears that had started to accumulate in my eyes. "Okay."

"Great, well I'll set up the appointment now. Do you want to eat takeout or do you want to cook? I'm perfectly fine with either one."

"Well, I have to go . . . get some groceries. I'm making chicken Alfredo tonight." I needed any excuse to escape Charlie's scrutinizing gaze.

"You do that Bells. And do me a favor and pick me up some cookies and cream ice cream, please."

"Got it, dad."

***2 weeks later***

I was sitting in my bed on a Sunday, just staring at the ceiling, thinking about nothing in particular.

I hated moments like these. Normally, I was always busying myself with little tasks so I wouldn't have to deal with these little thought-filled silences. It was times like these that I wondered what I could've done wrong, what could've made _him_ stay. I never outright thought his name though, it just made things worse, because I always knew I was never good enough for him.

And I never go out anymore. Not that I barely went out with anyone before, I just can't have a good time or have any fun at all, knowing that I was unwanted and unloved.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Come in Ch-dad!" Damn, I almost slipped up again.

"Bella, Dr. McKenzie and his family just moved in yesterday." He said, leaning on my door frame.

"That's nice, dad."

"Well, I was wondering, if you know, you would want to meet him and his wife today?"

"Sure, dad."

"Great, well, his name is Steven, and his wife's name is Benita."

"Okay, dad."

"And we're going to meet him and his wife at their house. And it'll be good for you because their kids are out shopping."

"Great, dad."

"We're leaving in 20, get dressed and come down stairs."

"Fine, dad."

Charlie looked at me with a look between pity and annoyance, and walked down the hall, muttering something about having conversations with the wall.  
I put on my blue cargo jacket, my black _That's What She Said_ t-shirt, some jeans, my converse, and went down stairs.

Charlie was on the phone finishing up a conversation when I walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah-Okay- Well, I'm about to leave the house now. - I know exactly where that is. – okay I'll see you then." He hung up the phone, and looked surprise to see me staring at him.

"I'm ready, dad."

"Okay Bells. Come on lets go."

We walked out the house to Charlie's cruiser and set off for the Florence's house. I put my iPod headphones in my ears, blasted Paramore's Ignorance and fell asleep before we were even at the traffic light.

"Bella, Bella, wake up."

I woke to the feeling of Charlie shaking my arm and the first thing I saw made my breath hitch in the back of my throat.

I gasped, and started to hyperventilate as my eyes raked over the huge manor with the glass walls and the tiny creek flowing to the right. I wrapped my arms tightly around my torso and brought my head to my knees so that my heart wouldn't explode inside my body. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the tears to hold back, but the salt water flowed out of my eyes like a river. I rocked back and forth and spit words so filthy that they felt foreign coming from lips.

"Dad, wh-why are w-we _here_?_ HOW COULD YOU?_" We were here, at the place with the roof and the garage, and the door. We were at _his_ house.

I caught another glimpse of the house and let out another wail of agony. I felt so betrayed. The gaping wholes and tears around the edges of my heart just got that much bigger as I realized I was set up.

"Why? Why would you do this? To me? ME! I fucking hate you!"

I tore through the car door and sent a silent thought to Charlie before I sped through the forest, tripping over air along the whole way.

I ran until I couldn't run anymore. My legs felt like gelatin, and my lungs felt like they were about implode on themselves, my stomach wanted to up lurch every bit of egg and toast I had this morning, and my brain felt like it wanted to ooze out of my ears. I leaned on a nearby tree and heaved my breakfast onto the grass. My eyes watered and I gagged a bit more before I sat back on the wet dirt and wiped my mouth with my hand. My head fell back on the tree trump and all I could do was breathe.

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

_Inhale._

_Exhale. _

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

_Breathe._

_In. _

_Out._

_Breathe._

_I can't do it. I can never go in there. Ever. It's painful enough just sitting in the damn forest _next_ to it. I can't do it. I don't even want to meet this damn psychiatrist. There's nothing wrong with me. I mean I know I'm not the sanest person in the bunch, but psychology? I'm not that sick. And plus, psychology implies some form of truth and honesty. What can I say? _Oh my ex-boyfriend is a blood-sucking monster who is a vegetarian and last spring he saved me from a sadistic vampire who wanted to kill me for no reason at all_. I don't think that would turn out to well._

_I'll just tell Charlie that I've changed my mind about the therapy. He'll understand. Besides, I refuse to do it anyway. Add in the fact that these people have taken the only thing that hasn't changed from me, and I wouldn't be able to even look them in the eye._

_I bet they've butchered Esme's home. _Her name was the only one that I could have brought myself to say. _I've avoided all routes to this place for a_ reason_. It just hurts too much._

My arms around my torso were already tight to the point where my muscles clenched and burned. _I can't take this anymore, this is just too much._

_I'm sorry._

I knew there were bears and mountain lions out here due to my past conversations with _him_, but I couldn't find it in myself to get up and go back to Charlie. I got up and decided to wander a little bit to ease the pain, when I heard it.

_Stop, Bella. Stop, and turn around._

I stopped dead in my tracks. It was _his _voice. Perfect and smooth, just like the first time I heard him speak. I've heard him in my dreams, plenty times before. But they were never as detailed as that. That was unspoiled perfection.

_I'm going crazy. _I thought as I put my hands to my head

_Bella, listen to me. You have to turn around now. Get as far away from this forest as physically possible. _He was still talking, and I couldn't deny my angel anything, so I walked backward a few steps. I learned that the farther I went back, the less I heard his voice. It was fading. _No . . . NO!_ I walked a couple more steps forward and his voice got louder.

_BELLA! You promised me. You promised me you would stay safe. Please, just turn around_.

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave this place. _This_ - whatever this was – _this_ was just too much. Now, I know I'm going insane. No, not going insane, I _am_ insane, falling off the deep end into a dark abyss of madness.

I need to go back to Charlie. I need to go back and apologize for my behavior, be nice to the McKenzie's and live a good life. Well as good as it can possibly get. I turned around to leave and was met with a pair of piercing golden eyes.

* * *

**(A/N We are the TwilightTwinz! {cue theme music} De de deedle leedle le de dee dee! lol. There are indeed two of us. We have made a joint account on FF, so we can try our hand at writing together. What happens is that each of us takes turns writing chapters. So for instance, TheSheWolf is writes the 1st chapter, and EdwardCullen'sGirlfriend000 writes the second and so forth. This chapter is TheSheWolf's. Also, if you wish to know what our characters (The McKenzies's) look like, then all you have to do is PM us and we'll send you the link. Also, if you had an idea of what you think the characters look like, then you're more than welcome to PM us your ideas, and pictures. We'd love to see what goes on in your heads. **

**You may know me as TheSheWolf, and I wanted to let you know that I live for reviews. Every time I get one, i do a little happy dance. So please, just review. It doesn't even have to be long. It can be one word for all i care. Just do it. We started this story months ago and now it is available for your enjoyment. Review please? It means the world to us, and either we'll reply seperately or together, but we read every review so just please give us some love. If you do, you get cookies, unless you dont like cookies in which case you have issues. All flames will be ignored. Also, the outfit Bella is wearing, is on our profile!**

**Yours Truly -**TheSheWolf

**Okay, so this is different then any other story I've written (on here and FP) so please give it a chance. Oh, and by the way, our twinlyness doesnt stop at the review thing. I live for them too. I even played the review game. They truly make my day. We've both worked very very hard on this chapter, so reviews would be appreciated. Did I happen to mention to review? I think I did. But incase, I didnt... please review! I'd also love to take anyones advice (please be nice! :D) so that would also be aprecciated. Thanks so much! And I would like some professional critique as well, because I realize that improvents can be made. But please, be nice about it! (And don't be fooled. My twin will most certainly not give you cookies, **(I will too!) **but reviews will get you a personal thanks and pm.=])**

**Love-** EdwardCullen'sGirlfriend000

**-TwilightTwinz)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Dr. Mackenzie's POV**

- - -

My wife, Benita, myself, Steven, and our three children, Andrew, Christina, and Vincent are all vampires. But don't get me wrong, we are good vamps. Confused? That's what I said.

I was bitten and changed in 1819; my creator is unknown. I woke up after three days of unbearable pain and found myself alone, crazed and bloodthirsty under the city. After my first hunt, (if you could call it that. I think of it more as a massacre), I knew I couldn't live with myself if I took another life from an innocent person. I lived off of bodies from car accidents, murders, and homeless drug addicts until I met Eleazar, who showed me his way of 'vegetarian' living. Eleazar and his family of five only fed off of the blood of animals- deer, elk, wild cats, etcetera. I practiced his way of living for around six months, and went on about my business.

I went back to my twins, Christina and Vincent, who were eighteen at the time. I had been gone for twenty months, and I knew they couldn't go on if I were gone much longer, and vice versa, as their mother had died after giving birth. So I changed them myself, after much effort, and we have hunted and lived that way ever since.

My wife, Benita Mackenzie, was changed in 1900, by me. Her husband had been an abuser, and set their house on fire while she was sleeping, slipping easily into the forest, and leaving her and her nephew, Andrew, to burn. I had smelled the smoke before the fire could completely incinerate them, though it had given Benita third degree burns on more than half of her body, and she had almost died of smoke inhalation. Andrew was just seconds from death. Nothing a little vampire venom couldn't cure. (Of course, her husband's death, which coincidentally occurred three nights later, couldn't be… funny how that works, isn't it?)

My phone vibrated in my pocket, snapping me out of my reminiscing.

"Dr. Mackenzie speaking." I greeted without look at the Caller I.D

"Dad, will you _please_ make Andrew and Christina move into separate rooms? I can't deal with this." Vincent groaned. I furrowed my brows.

"Do I _want_ to know?" Benita questioned from the passenger seat, easily picking out Vincent's words. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Vincent, do _I _want to know?" I asked.

"Well, I'm trying to drive, and they're . . . _viciously . . ._ making out in the back seat. This is ridiculous. I'm going to have nightmares. And I don't even sleep!" he whined. I sighed.

"Vinny, _I'm _trying to drive! Was this really necessary?" I muttered.

"Yes! Maybe you didn't hear me… Nightmares!"

"Vincent, suck it up." I heard Andrew utter from the back seat. Christina laughed a laugh that no father should ever have to hear.

"Ugh. I can't hear this." I mumbled and snapped the phone shut. I shivered, and tossed the phone into the backseat.

"Hopefully they'll move out soon, dear." Benita sighed from the seat. I snorted, and turned onto the gravel road that lead up to our new house. I heard Benita suck in a sharp breath as the house came in to view.

"It's _gorgeous._" she whispered, squeezing my hand. I just nodded.

Usually, I'm not the 'oh-my-goodness-let's-go-gawk-at-pretty-houses-and-gush-about-every-tiny-thing' type of guy. But I was speechless. It was two story, and had three fourths glass walls. What wasn't glass was a smooth white finish, that was glossy even in the overcast. Forest surrounded it, adding amazing wild sound affects all around, and if you listened closely you could hear the babbling of a creek to the right. It was perfect, and it was ours.

I parked my Audi in the four car garage, and Vincent pulled up next to me in his red Escalade. With his car in such close proximity, I could hear exactly what Vincent was complaining about.

"Christina, Andrew, _e_-_nough!" _I ordered. They pulled away from each other (thank God) and stepped out of the car.

"I don't care how much you're _in love_, that's just ridiculous." Vinny muttered, pushing the lock button on his key remote. The car beeped twice, and we each grabbed ten boxes of our belongings and house hold necessities.

"Ready?" I asked the others. They all nodded. I took out the key, unlocked the garage door, and opened it. Inside awaited our new home . . . our new life.

***"Benita?" I called down the stairs to where my wife was hanging Van Gogh's _Starry Night _on the hallway wall.

"Yes, Dear?" she answered, her answer muffled by the sandwich bag of tacks between her teeth.

"The Swan's will be here in an hour, for Bella's psychoanalysis. Then she'll be back tomorrow for therapy." I told her. She finished hanging the painting and was by my side.

"That's lovely, Steven." she said and planted a sweet kiss on my cheek.

"Dad, should we go hunting before the Swan's arrive?" Christina trilled in her wind chime voice, poking her head around the corner. Her blonde hair cascaded in soft waves as she turned her head. I nodded.

"Yes. Your mother and I will go with you, but when the Swan's arrive I want you to stay in the forest. Bella might not be ready for all of us. We wouldn't want to bombard her with so much at one time.""Of course not, dear." Benita agreed. She leaned her head out of the window and called down to her son, who was under Vincent's Escalade, helping him fix some thing.

"Andrew! Let's go. Vinny, too." Andrew crawled out from under the car, followed by Vincent.

To this day, it still amazed me how much Benita and Andrew looked alike. You would think after the change and the bodily differences that came with vampirism, that facial features would change. And they did, but they changed in a way that was insanely alike.

Benita had dark, thick curls that fell almost to her waist and held a striking contrast to her pale skin. She had golden eyes, as all of the vampires in this family did, but even when her thirst was completely satisfied they were still a slightly darker shade then the rest of ours; closer to brown then gold. She had high cheek bones and a perfect ski slope nose, along with full lips that were a perfect double curve. She was average height, around 5'5, and curvy. All in all, she was beautiful.

Her nephew, Andrew, who had to be changed as well because of the fire his uncle had set, when he was only reason he lived with Benita was because his parents had died a few months prior to the fire, and he was in such a depression that his mother's sister (Benita) had to take him in.

He was tall, taller then myself and Vincent, somewhere around 6'6. He was muscled all the way up, stocky and strong. His aunt's dark eyes had followed him, always a bit darker then the rest of us. His hair was the same color, if not the same texture, as his mothers, and would be insanely curly if it was longer. He also had his mothers cheek bones and facial structure, minus the pouty lips.

Long story short, their similarities amazed me.

We met at the front door, and all kicked off our shoes and shrugged out of our over coats.

"Let's hunt."***

My cell phone buzzed my pocket as we were tracking our second pack of deer.

"Benita, that's my alarm. The Swans will be here soon." I informed her, hitting the disable' button on the alarm.

"Children, you stay out here and hunt some more. We're going to go meet the Swans." I told them.

"We'll be back when the humans are gone." Andrew said teasingly. I smiled at him and tossed him my phone.

"I'll call you from your mothers cell. Remember, stay off the trail, don't attract attention, and no hunting the moose. They're endangered now." I reminded them. With that, Benita and I turned and sprinted back to the house.

When we got there, Benita changed from her T-shirt and jeans and into a violet blouse and black pencil skirt, and then she combed through her hair and let it fall loosely around her shoulders. She then sat on the crème satin couch and flipped through the television nonchalantly.

I changed into my suit, put on my favorite red velvet tie, and was organizing papers on my desk when we heard the tires crunching on the gravel.

"That will be them." I murmured. Benita shut off the T.V, stood up, and made her way to the door, with me at her side.

We waited patiently while we heard Chief Swan gently urging Bella to awaken.

As we listened, we heard the sound of crying- no that would be putting it lightly. We heard the sound of a complete anxiety attack.

"Why would you do this to me?! ME! I fucking hate you!" A young girl, whom we assumed to be Bella, shouted. We heard a door slam, and then running. Benita furrowed her brow and gave me a puzzled glance. I shrugged my shoulders, I was just as confused.

We heard only one set of footsteps trudging up the stairs, and then a frantic knock. I gave one last look at Benita, and she nodded. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

A man, around his early forties, was standing at the door with a disgruntled and slightly angered look in his eyes.

"Hello, Chief Swan. Welcome to our home." Benita said gracefully, stepping to the side to let him in.

"Thank you, Mrs. Mackenzie. Hello, Doctor Mackenzie." he said gruffly, stepping into the hallway.

"Hello Chief Swan. How are you doing today?" I asked, making direct eye contact. He seemed to find interest there, and question flashed in his eyes.

"Just fine, thank you." he told me.

"Please, have a seat in my office." I told him, directing him to the study that held my desk and cushy leather chairs. Benita followed us into the room and positioned herself behind my chair, where I was sitting, and placed a hand on my shoulder. Chief Swan was glancing around the room, studying it meticulously, as if he were trying to find any flaws.

"Um, is… Bella… here?" I asked. Chief Swan sighed and brushed his fingers through his hair and ran a hand down his face.

"Bella has some… history… with this house. She kind of… freaked out." he seemed to struggle for the right words. Benita furrowed her brows and looked at me. _Maybe her condition is stronger than he had implied._

"Um, I'm sorry Chief Swan, but when you say 'freaked out', what do you mean?" she asked. He sighed again.

"She started sobbing and shaking, screamed at me, and then she bolted into the forest." he admitted. Benita widened her eyes and gasped.

"She ran into the forest?" I demanded. He nodded frantically, apparently catching the gist of the urgency in my tone.

"Oh no. No, no, no." Benita whispered.

"Is there something wrong with this forest?" he asked us, frightened for his daughters safety. Benita and I shared a fearful and worried gaze.

"Christina._"_

_- - - - _

**(A/N): Alright, well, there you go. We worked very hard, and I can assure you, all these ideas are original. I can't say that about the names J . Anyhoo, review please!!! It's Aisha's turn now. Have fun, Twin!**

**-EdwardCullen'sGirlfriend**

**I would like to bow down to my twin on this one. She did an amazing job. She described the McKenzie's to perfection, and I honestly think that Icouldn't do any of this without her. Now, I know you guys want some delicious cookies, so please review, and you'll be up to your knees in sugary goodness!Its my turn next! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!-TheSheWolf)**


	3. Chapter 3

BPOV

She was beautiful. She had soft blonde hair that flowed down her shoulders, past her breastbone. And her eyes were big and sultry, drawing you in with their smoky amber allure. Her lips were full, pouty and red, as if she blushed and all the blood flowed to her lips. But I knew then that would never happen, she was a vampire. She had no blood. Her skin was pale white and she had a Marilyn Monroe beauty mark on the right side of her face.

I'd hate to even think it, but she was actually more beautiful than Rosalie. And my confidence level just dropped a few notches.

But at that moment, I couldn't think about beauty, or confidence, or even Rosalie, because my life was in peril.

_Tell her you know about her. Now Bella!_

I'd almost forgotten the angel in my head. I was stunned, and I really didn't have the time to think about my sanity at that point.

"I know what you are!" I almost shouted, afraid that if I'd given her another second of time, she would have gone for my throat.

"Do you? Do you really?" Her melodic voice bounced off every surface imaginable in the forest. She was crouching, a stance I immediately recognized. She was going to attack.

"Yes. You're a vampire."

_Tell her you have vampire friends that are coming. You have to lie._

"And how would you know that? I could just be a cannibal. Or a psychopath. No one would ever know the difference."

"I-I would . . . I can tell. I actually have some vampire friends on their way right now."

"Quit lying! You suck at it."

_Lie better Bella! Come on, LIE! _The voice in my head growled at me, determined to get me out of this alive.

"No really, they're vegetarians too."

"Really, anyone I know? Tanya? Kate? Carmen? The Denali's are really nice people. Or maybe the Cullen's? That Edward fellow was rather –"

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you supposed to be –"

But I never got to finish my sentence. In one quick, swift movement she had flown to my side, and lifted me about a foot of the ground by my neck, leaving me sputtering and gasping for breath.

"Now you listen to me. I don't like being interrupted, a thing you should know before I kill your pathetic human ass. Second, don't question me, what I do or say, is none of your business. Also, I don't even want your mopey little Cullen, I have my own man back at my house. And lastly, the only reason I'm playing along with your little vampire mind games is because I'm going to kill you in a second, so you won't be able to tell the tale about the vamp who squealed to the human about our existence. Now don't scream, this is only going to hurt a lot."

During her rant, the voice in my head was screaming at me, telling me not to give up, to do everything in my power to live, but I couldn't find it in myself to care about my life right then. In a way, I welcomed the pain, embraced it even.

"Christina!" A smooth deep voice sounded from behind me, and though I couldn't see who it was, I knew he was one of them.

In a second, a tall blonde vampire was behind Christina, pulling her hands from my neck.

I fell to the ground, coughing and gasping, and holding my hands to my neck as if doing so would stop the bruises from forming.

The second vampire was at my side in a flash, prying my hands from my neck and assessing the damage.

"Christina. Why did you run away? You know the rules. Do you not know who this is?"

"No, I don't know. And quite frankly I don't really care. I'm more pissed than anything. You should've just let me eat her, now she's going to tell the world about us!" Christina, or so the male had called her, was on the point of rage, looking as if she wanted to kill everything within her reach.

"This is Isabella Swan, Dad's customer? Yeah, think about what would've happened if you had eaten her," he then turned to me, and for the first time I got a really good look at him. He had blonde hair that hung around his face into his eyes, and was streaked with natural high and lowlights. His dark brows were creased in concern for my safety, and the intensity of his honeyed eyes caused me to blush, my breath to hitch in my throat, and my breathing to pick up. I could hear Christina's condescending remark of "Oh, please," at the involuntary actions that my body had made to looking at the beautiful vampire in front of me.

His soft red lips grimaced as he listened to Christina bitch about not being able to suck my blood. His high cheekbones contrasted to his prominent nose and he was just . . . there.

"Ok, first off, my name is Vincent. I'm Dr. McKenzie's son, and the bitch over there is Christina, she's my twin. I'm really sorry that you had to go through all this but look, I heard about you and Cullen, and personally, I think he was a jerk for what he did to you. But if you knew so much about our world then you must know that going into the woods in a place like Forks is not very smart. So please, on account of your safety and Christina's sanity-"

"I HEARD THAT!" She yelled from a tree somewhere.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK! Sorry, about that. But, like I was saying, please stay out of the forest. Okay? Don't go back in the forest." Then he just stared into my eyes like he was expecting me to bend to his will.

"I'll go into the forest if I want to go into the forest, you can't tell me what to do." I yanked out of his grasp and stood up defiantly, or at least I tried to. I was still feeling weak from Christina's earlier attack. And when Vincent helped me back on my feet I expected him to order me not to go in the forest again.

But he didn't, he just looked shocked. His jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor and his eyes were bugging out of his head.

"Um, are you ok?" I was getting worried; it took a lot to surprise a vampire.

He just put his hands on my shoulders, and stared into my eyes. "You will not go into the forest!" He practically screamed into my face, never breaking eye contact.

"Why are you yelling at me?" I screamed back, maybe these vamps really were psycho.

He just stepped back, looking outraged and screamed to the top of his lungs, "ANDREW AND CHRISTIE GET OVER HERE, NOW!"

Christina and who I assumed to be Andrew kind of just appeared by Vincent.

Andrew was a burly Spanish vampire with eyes darker than Christina or Vincent. He had spiked hair and stood about 6'6 at the most. His dark complexion and big muscles contrasted the wife beater he was currently sporting.

"Vinny! You know how I feel about you using your powers on me. Do it again, and you'll regret it."Christina sneered from her position on Andrew's arm.

"Shut up." Vincent said curtly.

"Powers? What powers?" I asked cautiously. Remembering the difficulty . . . previous vampires had getting into my head, I hoped that his power wouldn't be able to infiltrate my mind.

But apparently, they were ignoring me, because the next thing I know Andrew is looking at me as if I've grown a second head.

He walked over to a still seething Vincent, acted as if I couldn't hear every word he was saying and said, "Who the hell is she?"

"I'm Bella Swan. Can you please take me back to my dad?"

"No need for that, we're right here." A smooth deep voice emanated from the bushes, where two more vampires-whom I assumed to be my therapist and his wife-and my father joined the rest of us.

Charlie ran over to me, hugging me and then pressing his cold fingers to my head, I'm guessing to check my temperature. He stepped back and assessed the damage done to my neck, and when he applied slight pressure to the marks, I hissed and jumped backwards.

"Bella, what happened to your neck? And why on Earth did you run into the forest? You know there have been sightings of large bears running around here. Goodness . . . okay look, how about you take a short vacation. Stay home for a while. You don't have to go to therapy, you could just rest." Charlie was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and he looked overly stressed and worried.

"No! I've changed my mind. I actually think this can help."

It was silent, everybody waiting for Charlie's decision. I, myself already knew the answer before it came out of his mouth. He's wanted this too long. He was going to give in.

He sighed. "Alright, you can do the therapy. On one condition," He turned to Dr. McKenzie and his wife, an apologetic look on his face. "Bella either has to do the therapy at my house or at an office."

And it was then that everything around me came crashing down all at once; the house, the vampires, the _voice_. It was as if the weight of my sanity had come splashing down in waves all around me, and I was drowning. It was just _too_ much.

My head was spinning and the last thing I heard was my Angel's voice before I slipped into unconsciousness.

_Bella!_

* * *

"Is she waking?"

"I don't know!"

"Wake her up then."

"I'm trying!"

"Slap her."

A hard slap across my cheek, almost hard enough to wake me, but I was too far gone.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know. I saw it in a movie."

"Oh you saw it in a movie? Well it didn't work!"

"Obviously."

Familiar voices drifted in and out of my ears, until I slipped back into the depths of numbness.

* * *

"Why isn't she waking?"

"I. Don't. Know!"

"Maybe we should call a doctor."

"You know I suggested that like an hour ago."

I didn't want to wake up. I wanted to stay here, where I would never feel the pain and loneliness of life. But mostly, I wanted to go back to sleep. So I did.

* * *

"Steve, I'm getting scared."

"She'll be fine. She's running a slight fever but she'll be just fine."

"Thank you Dr. Gerandy."

"No problem, Chief. I'll just let myself out now."

A door closed, followed by footsteps going down the stairs out the door. And I wondered briefly how long I'd been out.

"This is bullshit. It's time for my wake up method."

"Andrew! Watch your language!"

"Sorry, Auntie."

About a minute passed when all of a sudden I felt cold. Very cold . . . and wet . . . and very awake.

Andrew had poured ice water all over me.

_What the hell?_

"What the hell?" I screeched. It seemed as if I no longer had a control on my brain filter.

"Bella!" Charlie chastised, blushing a furious red color. _Ah, so that's where I get it._

"Ah, so that's where I get it." Ugh, word vomit.

"What?" Everyone around me looked thoroughly confused. And they had every right to be. _Idiots._

"Idiots," I whispered, but of course they all heard me, including Charlie. "Shit! I mean crap! I mean, sorry. Please excuse my lack of manners. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry Bella. You passed out; it's not your fault that you're confused and incoherent." The beautiful Spanish woman with the light eyes seemed to speak to me for the first time.

"Thanks, but really, I'm fine. There's no need to worry."

"All right well since my plan wake-up-sleeping-beauty has been deemed a success, I'm going home. You coming, Chrissie?" Andrew spoke from his position on my computer chair, spinning around like a pre-pubescent teenage girl.

"Do you even have to ask?"

Andrew stood up, took Christina's hand and led her out the room and eventually out the front door.

"Um, Bella?"

I looked up to find my therapist and his wife staring intently at me.

"As you probably already know, I'm Steve McKenzie, your therapist. And this is my wife, Benita McKenzie," He grabbed her hand and looked at her briefly before turning his attention to my dad. "Charlie if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Bella alone."

"Oh, no its fine, I need to run to the store to get more beer anyway. Did you guys want something?" There were collective no's, before Charlie turned back to me. "Bells?"

I shook my head, not wanting to cause him any more stress than I already had. He placed a quick kiss on my forehead before he too, was gone.

"Bella?" It was Benita who addressed me, a look similar to relief etched into her beautiful features.

"Yes?"

Steve walked over to where I stood and placed a cold, hesitant hand on my shoulder. I look at his hand skeptically, it was over a gray tank top that I would have bet a million dollars was not there before I passed out.

"Oh, Benita changed your clothes when you were out. You kind of fell into a mud puddle."

I blushed for obvious reasons, and cast my eyes downward, not wanting to meet the intense golden stare of Dr. McKenzie.

"Bella, we know everything. We know that you know the secret."

"Are you going to hurt me?"

"What? No, of course not! We just want you to know that you're not alone in this town." Benita pleaded with me from her place at the rocking chair in the corner of my room. The chair that was once inhabited by another vampire. The chair that I couldn't look at for months without going into a mental breakdown.

Steve squeezed my shoulder, "If you would just tell us how much you know . . ."

"Sure." I took a deep breath, halting all thoughts of a certain bronze-haired god from entering my mind. "Well, I know that you guys drink animal blood, instead of human blood. You're eyes. They're gold. I know that you don't shrivel up and die when you go into the sunlight. You sort of, sparkle." As the last statement left my mouth, I realized how silly it was. Sparkling? It sounded outright ridiculous. But saying it, and experiencing it are two totally different things.

"When you don't . . . feed, you're eyes turn pitch black. And other than the basics, that's pretty much it."

"Okay, okay good. And you learned all of this from the Cullen's, I presume?" Steve was now pacing my room, each step, though graceful and deliberate, seemed oddly catlike and feral.

I nodded my head, suddenly nervous all of a sudden, and had a strange sense of claustrophobia settle in my chest.

"Look Bella," Benita started, "You obviously don't understand the seriousness of the situation. Sweetie, they could kill you."

I gazed at her in confusion. "Who's they?"

"The Volturi."

**

* * *

**

**(We're baaaaack! And better than ever! I thought that was a good place to stop. Not that much of a cliff hanger, but enough to leave you wanting more. I know you want more (**lol that's what she said**) so all you have to do is review. That's it. Nothing more. Just review. I apologize for making this chapter so short though. Not my fault, all the juicy stuff happens next chapter, so you figure out who to talk to about that. (**Not me!**) Also, sorry this took so long. I didn't mean for it to. I've just been busy. Also, in case you haven't figured it out, this was the chapter I wrote, and ECG is up next with chapter 4. So you can yell at her about how you want chapter 4 to come out.**

**-TheSheWolf**

**I must give my wonderful twin a round of applause *claps hands in circular formation* She did absolutely outstanding on this chapter. And referring to my twin's statement of: You can yell at her about how you want that to come out . . . Yeah . . . no. No yelling, please. Although, she is right about the review concept- if you want to read more, please review. That would just be grand. It's my turn next! Wooh-hoo!**

**-ECG000)**


	4. Chapter 4

**BPOV**

**-----**

I grit my teeth against the pain of the throbbing hole in my heart as the word 'Volturi' triggered a previous conversation. I kept my eyes focused on the hardwood floor of my bedroom, so that no one could see the pain and wonder in my eyes as my Angels voice came back to me.

"_Well, I wasn't going to live without you." _he'd said, his voice ringing in perfect clarity in my memory, like honey melting. I remembered how he had rolled his tawny eyes, as if it were obvious. My arms tightened around my torso, but I willed my mind to keep going. This was better than hearing his voice in the forest. "_But I wasn't sure how to_ do _it- I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help… so I was thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi." _I winced as those names brought back painful images of the family I had struggled so hard to forget.

"_The Volturi are a family. A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose." _He'd continued on, explaining in greater detail. _"Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi. Not unless you want to die- or what ever it is we do." _I grimaced at the almost bored tone he had used. I remembered how horrified and furious I had been- that he had even _thought_ of hurting himself because of me.I waited for his voice to continue, but it never did. The pain flared in my chest as his voice echoed in my head. I knew that this was all I was getting- that my Angel was done with me for the night. I realized that this would probably be the last thing I heard him say in a while, so I kept silent until the 'echoing' ceased, savoring every minute of is velvet voice.

"Bella?" Steve interrupted my reverie. "Are… are you okay?" he sounded scared, like I was insane and he was waiting for me to snap.

"I, uh, I think so. I mean, yeah, I'll be fine." I stammered, furrowing my brows and rubbing the back of my neck.

"Sweetie, do you know anything about the Volturi?" Benita asked, concern clouding her angelic face.

"Um, I know a little. I only ever heard of them once." I admitted, still gazing at the floor.

"So you know that the fact that you know about our existence is cause for them to kill you?" Steve asked.

"What? But… Why?" I demanded. I knew that my voice should have been shaky, a little more surprised, a little more afraid, but it wasn't. Although, my heart rate did speed up in my chest, which is probably why Benita hurried to reassure me.

"Steven! You shouldn't frighten her like that. Can't you see she's already worked herself up into a state? Bella, please, we are only trying to warn you about what you might say. You mustn't let any other vampire know what you know." she said, attempting to be soothing, while glaring at her husband.

"Well, it's not as if any other vampire would be around me anyways. But, I'm curious- why am I not allowed to know?" I asked. Steven and Benita shared a glance, and then Steven answered my question.

"It's a bit obvious, Bella. If one human found out about us, and news got around, we would all be slaughtered. On second thought- we would probably just have to go back into hiding. It's not as if you humans could ever catch us in the first place." he sort of smirked at the end of his statement. Then his expression turned serious. "Not only that, but it's against our vampire laws."

"There are _laws_?" I wondered out loud, astounded. _No one ever told me about _laws_._

"There's only one- we must keep our existence a secret." Benita clarified.

"That's really what the Volturi are there for. You see, if someone is close to exposing us to humans, they step in, exterminate, and are back before supper." Steve added grimly. "That's why you can't let anyone know that you know. Not only would the Volturi destroy the vampires that leaked the information, they would kill the human that let it get around." I nodded.

"So… they want to kill me?" I assumed tonelessly. I should have been scared out of my mind, but after the initial shock wore off, I was used to being frightened and the threat of death hanging above me. I had actually become some what accustomed to it. Benita gasped delicately.

"Oh, goodness, no! Well, they _would_, if they even knew you existed. But they don't. Which is exactly what we are trying to tell you. If you simply keep your mouth shut, and don't attract too much attention to yourself around vampires, you should be fine."

"Like I said, no other vampires will ever be around me. So it's a moot point." I repeated.

"You may think that, darling, but look at us. Did you ever think that any other vampires would arrive in Forks besides the Cullens?" Benita asked. She waited, so I shook my head no, trying not to dwell on the fact that they had said the forbidden word in my presence _three times _in just a few short hours. "Exactly. And yet, here we are. So, even though it's an unlikely possibility, it isn't unthought-of. Just be warned."

I nodded my head and looked out the window behind Steven. The faint yellow circle behind the gray clouds was in the middle of the sky, signaling that it was about noon.

"Charlie is around the corner." Benita whispered. I tore my gaze from the window and looked at her, and then nodded. But I couldn't take my eyes off of her face. She felt my gaze and glanced up, and then smiled.

"Is something wrong, sweetheart?" she asked, obviously wondering why I was starring at her so intently. I blushed.

"No, I'm fine. It's just… you remind me of someone else." I admitted. I was referring to Esme, and how both of them were ridiculously caring and motherly and loving. She smiled politely at me and looked down at my bed sheets. I fixed my gaze back out the window, and saw that Charlie was getting out of the cruiser with two grocery bags.

"So, I heard that Charlie wants to have my sessions in an office." I stated.

"Yes. He also said he would be fine with the sessions in here." Steven added.

"Would it be possible if we could have it… right now?" I spoke quickly.

"Your session, you mean?" Benita asked. I nodded rapidly. Two pairs of golden eyes looked at me questioningly, but then Steve nodded again.

"Sure, Bella. I'll go talk to your father about it, and then we'll get started right away." And then he turned on his heel and walked out of my room. Benita followed silently, giving me a small smile before shutting my door behind her.

I sighed and settled onto my bed, scooting back and leaning completely against the wall. I myself didn't completely know why I was so eager for therapy. Wait, yes I did. I wanted desperately to forget about the boy with the bronze hair- to be normal again. I wanted to be able to watch Romeo and Juliet, to be able to smile freely and without force, to have my friends back. To be able to sit in Biology and not have to pretend that there was an invisible wall between myself and the seat on my left side. I wanted to make my mother and father happy, to not be thought of as a freak who needed therapy. I wanted to live the life that had been planned out for me, instead of the destroyed, mangled, broken one that I had been left with.

"Bella?" Charlie's voice came from my door way, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up at him expectantly. "You're sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"I'm positive." I assured him, and gave him a wry smile. He smiled back, nodded, and moved aside to let Steven and Benita into my room.

"I'll be down stairs if you need anything." Charlie added. "And… I love you, Bells." I could swear I heard a crack from tears in his voice. I nodded again.

"I love you to, Dad." my face softened, and I felt horribly guilty for telling him that I hated him earlier, after he had done so much for me. I wanted to say something, but then he stepped out of my room and was gone.

"Bella, therapy sessions are very private ordeals, so I'm going to go home now. I'll see you around, okay?" Benita was leaning in my doorway, talking to me as if I were a child; fragile and naïve.

"No! Stay, please?" I wanted desperately for there to be someone in the room who wouldn't judge me. That someone couldn't have been Steven- that's what he was paid to do. But Benita, she was just so… motherly, so understanding. I needed her with me.

I could almost feel _him_ growling for trusting these people- these _vampires_- so completely, after only a few hours. But there was something familiar about them, something that made me instantly like them. Maybe it was the golden eyes, maybe it was their compassion, or maybe it was their eating habits; I didn't know. But it was definitely something.

"Steven?" Benita looked at him, asking permission with her honey-colored eyes. "If you'll allow it."

He looked unsure, but he eventually nodded his consent and Benita came to my side on the bed.

I turned to face the god-like vampire sitting in my computer chair and sighed.

_Here goes everything._

"So, Isabella, usually I begin with one question." Steve spoke in a friendly tone, as if we were talking about an upcoming movie or a trip to the book store. "Why am I here today?" his golden eyes bore into mine. I answered honestly.

"Because… because I need help. I'm depressed. You're here to help me get better." I admitted, blushing. Benita crossed from behind my computer chair where her husband was sitting to sit beside me on my bed. Her body made virtually no indentation in the mattress. She scooted up, almost shoulder to shoulder with me, and grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I smiled at her politely. She was close enough that I could smell the indescribable scent emanating from her skin. It was familiar, and calmed me.

"Okay, good. Very good. Most of my patients waste a lot of time and sessions because they're in denial. The fact that you've accepted your mental state is great; very mature of you, Bella. You've saved a great deal of time. I'm impressed." he complimented.

"Thank you." I muttered.

"So Bella, why do you think you're depressed?" I took a deep breath and focused my eyes on mine and Benita's intertwined hands. This was going to be the worst part.

"The Denali's have told you about the… Cullens, yes?" I asked him, biting my tongue through the pain that seared through me. He nodded.

"They have the largest coven in history- besides the Volturi, of course." he mused.

"Yes. There are seven of them. One of the males and I, well, we had sort of a… relationship." I said, fidgeting with my sleeves and furrowing my brows.

"What kind of relationship?" he asked, not looking up from his clipboard.

"We were… _I _was in love with him." I corrected myself in a whisper.

"Who, Bella?" Benita asked innocently. I looked at her in question, starring straight into her butterscotch, doe-like eyes. "Who did you have the relationship with?" she clarified.

"Edward." I said even more quietly, ignoring the painful squeeze my heart gave.

"So you're depressed because Edward left you?" Steven asked. I nodded, and he wrote something down on his clipboard.

"How did you meet Edward?" Steve kept on, looking up from his clipboard to gaze at me.

"At school, in Biology. Well, really at lunch, but it all started in fifth period Bio." I spoke with as little emotion as I could, afraid my voice would fail me and I would end up in an asylum.

"Did he say anything to you?" I gave a small, quiet laugh.

"No. Actually, that was probably the worst day. He had wanted to slaughter me then."

"Why?" Benita gasped.

"Well, maybe it doesn't have the same effect on you, but my blood has a special appeal to… Edward." I forced myself to say the word, instead of saying _him_. Steven seemed to notice, and nodded in approval.

"I see. You're blood is very… aromatic. But yes, some are more appealing to others. Go on, please." Steven gestured with his hand to keep talking.

"Of course. Well, you see, he hadn't hunted in a while, and we were forced to sit right beside each other; not even three feet apart. My close proximity had almost made him insane with thirst, and he had very nearly killed me then." I said quietly. "He kept staring at me- no, not staring, he was _glaring_ at me. Glaring with a hate that I can't even imagine. That's when I first became obse-" I quickly corrected myself, "Infatuated with him. I didn't understand what could make someone hate me so soon and so thoroughly- really, you should have seen the disgust in his eyes. With some Herculean effort, he made it through Bio and had managed not to kill me for the time being." I was whispering by this point, avoiding both sets of golden stares.

"Did you confront him about it?" Steven asked, resting his elbow on my computer desk and placing his chin in his hand.

"I would have never had the guts. And anyway, I didn't get the chance. He was gone the next day- for a lot of days, actually."

"How long?"

"Seven weeks, give or take." I said casually. _Six weeks, three days, and 16 hours until you saw him again._ A small part of my brain informed me.

"Were you angry with him?"

"No, not at all. Actually, I couldn't really think about anything but breathing the day that he first spoke to me." I admitted, heat rising to my cheeks. "And then… the next day, before school started, I was almost killed before his very eyes- right then and there." My heart beat unevenly as I retold the story of when Tyler Crowley had almost turned me into a dent in the side of my truck. I told them about how _he_ had tried to convince me that I had simply 'hit my head too hard', about how I tried to convince him that if he just told me the truth I would keep my mouth shut. And even then, he wouldn't tell me what really happened. It made me angry now, just to think about it.

"_That_ was when I became angry with him- I was lying for him, to everyone, and he wouldn't even trust me with the truth. Not only that, but he seemed like he had regretted even saving me. The rational part of my brain knew that he didn't, but… I don't even know how to explain it. He was always switching up his moods on me, one moment telling me that we shouldn't be friends, the next asking me if I wanted to go to Seattle- and he always spoke in ridiculously cryptic messages. He's very… moody. Borderline bi-polar. It was impossible not to think that he regretted that I had even moved to Forks in the first place." All of this came pouring from my mouth like a river of syllables and sounds, but I knew that they could both clearly understand what I was saying. One of the perks of vampirism. I had no idea why all of this came so easily- how I couldn't even say his name but I could launch into a full monologue about him. But… Steven had a way of looking at me and almost hypnotizing the words out of me. I didn't know if it was his talent, or if it was simply the fact that the golden eyes reminded me so much of _his._

"Did you suspect that he was a vampire?" Benita asked.

"Surprisingly, no. The idea never even occurred to me until Jacob Black told me the Quileute legends- about "the cold ones"." I made air quotes with my free hand.

"They aren't supposed to speak of those legends to humans." Steve almost growled. I was taken aback. His angry tone broke through his over all calm façade, and surprised me.

"He doesn't really believe them- he's only fifteen." I quickly defended Jacob. Steven shook his head as if to clear it, and wrote something else down on his clipboard.

"Anyways, I'm sorry I got sidetracked, please, go on with your story."

"Well, after Jacob told me the story, the idea was sort of planted in my head. I researched online, and none of it matched all of the things that he could do. One would have speed, but not strength. One would have the fact of them not eating and strength, but not speed. Nothing fit." I felt slightly ridiculous, looking back, that I had actually researched vampires on _Google_. Really, though, what had I expected? _A vampire is strong, fast, doesn't eat, eyes change color, is really moody, insanely beautiful, and has bronze hair. There you go! Have fun with that!_

"So did you let him know about what you had assumed?" Steven asked, jotting more down.

"No. I didn't really believe the stories myself. Well, until the night in Port Angeles when I got lost down town. A few men had tried to kidnap me- and probably rape me. He saved me from them, reading their minds to find me and get me out of there. That was when I positively _knew_ that he wasn't human."

"He read's minds, eh?" Steven said thoughtfully.

"Yes. He could read every single mind- every single thought- in a room. Except mine."

"Interesting." Steven didn't press the matter, obviously wanting to get on with the session.

"So after that whole fiasco, he took me to dinner." I said simply. I was very proud of myself for how blasé I was being- so calm and collected… for the most part.

"And after dinner?" Benita asked.

"After dinner he took me home. But during the car ride, when I asked him, he admitted what he was. The next day was all about me asking questions- how he became a vampire, why he only hunted animal blood, all about his family and history. Everything. After that it was his day to ask the questions- he knew everything about me by the end of forty eight hours. There were no secrets between us, nothing to hide. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada." I realized I was babbling and pressed my lips together to keep from talking.

"I see. And before, Bella, you said that _you_ were in love with _him_. He didn't feel the same way?" he flipped to a new sheet of legal paper on his clip board and began writing again.

"I like to believe that he _did_, at one point. But after my birthday party-" And then I launched into the dreadful tale of my eighteenth birthday party. I told him all about the paper cut, Carlisle's conversation with me, about … Edwards… desolation; the emptiness in his eyes and kisses. And then I couldn't go on, because we had reached the part about how he had lead me into the forest for a walk.

"What did he tell you in the forest?" Benita whispered. I had almost forgotten that she was there. I took a shaky breath and finished.

" He told me 'goodbye.'" I couldn't stop the tears that spilled over and onto my cheeks then, and I had to pry my hand from Benita's so I could wind my arms tightly around my torso. I couldn't look Steven in the eye as I retold the story of the day that a piece of my heart had been taken from me. "He told me that he had to leave, both him and his family, and start over. And when I offered to go with him, he told me flat out that he simply didn't want me. That I wasn't good for him." _Good _enough_ for him_. "That he was tired of pretending to be something he wasn't, tired of pretending to be human, when he obviously couldn't be. The incident at his house had showed him all of that- and so he told me goodbye." I choked on the last word and a sob broke out of my chest. I buried my face in my hands, letting the tears run through my fingers and drip onto my jeans. I could vaguely feel Benita's cold, hard hand rubbing soothing circles on my back, and Steven's comforting words over the rushing sound in my ears. But nothing could conquer the feeling of a fist being shoved through my chest and ripping out pieces of my heart.

- - - - -

Steven snapped his briefcase shut and gave me a long look.

"You should get to bed, Bella. You have school tomorrow." he murmured, smiling politely. I was too exhausted to do anything but smile back and crawl under my heavy comforters.

"I'll see you next Sunday, Bella. Have a nice night." And then he walked out of my room. Benita had left earlier, to take the kids hunting, just for good measures, considering they were going to be surrounded by humans for the first time in a while tomorrow. Steven had stayed to explain to Charlie what was exactly going on with my mental state. As Steven spoke to my father about it, their voices drifted up the stairs and through my open bedroom door.

"Chief…" Steven sighed. I could picture him shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's depressed."

"Obviously. _I_ could have told you that, Doc." Charlie said. He was probably rolling his eyes.

"No, you don't understand. She's _chronically _depressed. There are pieces of her, emotionally, that are gone. She doesn't even like saying the word Cullen. She can't go near their previous home with out completely breaking down. There are things she cant think. All I'm saying is, she's going to need more than a few sessions. She's probably going to need medication, at least for a while." Steven sighed again. "The only thing I'm sorry for, Chief, is that this happened to her, when she didn't deserve it."

"I say that to myself every day, Doc. Every single day." he sounded like he was choking. There was a pause. "Thank you. You'll be back, right? Next Sunday?" Charlie sounded very… desperate.

"As long as she needs me." The front door opened and closed.

_I've heard _that_ one before._

- - -

When I woke up the next morning, I was actually looking forward to going school. As I dressed, I thought, with relief, about how great it would be for everyone to be staring at the McKenzie's, instead of at me. The McKenzie's, with their inhumane beauty, golden eyes, perfect clothes… they were _way_ more interesting than Freaky Bella.

As soon as I reached my truck, thunder boomed in my ears. Just like in the movies, the clouds seemed to part and rain fell from the sky in big, fat drops that splattered against my face. _Lovely._ And then, of course, I dropped my keys under my truck and had to get on all fours to snatch them back, furthering the amount of rain water on me and bumping my head on side view mirror on the way back up. _Looks like it's going to be one of _those_ days._

Soaking and head throbbing, I climbed into the cab and started the engine. As I pulled out of the drive, I reached forward to turn the heater on. The vent in front of the passenger seat popped and crackled, and then neon sparks flew from the opening.

"Damn it!" I quickly switched it off, and glared out the windshield.

When I pulled into the school parking lot, I was shivering. I parked right in front of the building that held my English class, so I could be indoors and warm as soon as possible. As I was getting out of the truck, I was pulled up short by the glossy red Escalade that I had parked directly next to. I stood there for a moment, surprised at the foreign car, and then started off again.

"Good morning, Bella. How are you doing today?" A silky voice purred from behind me. I turned around sharply, a blank expression on my face.

I hadn't noticed him before, but there he stood, incredibly perfect, leaning against the hood of his car as if the pounding rain couldn't bother him if it tried. The wind whipped at his blonde hair, fanning it around his angelic face. He wore a black vest over a crisp white v neck, and black jeans; a very sleek look for him. Of course, the black offset his perfectly chalk white skin and golden hair, making him look like a modern day angel. His siblings were no where in sight, and it seemed as though he wouldn't have it any other way. He looked like a model for cars… or clothes… or hair… or perfection.

He rose his eyebrows expectantly, probably wondering why it took me so long to answer his fairly simple question.

"Oh, I, uh, I'm good. H-how about you?" I stammered as rain pelted the top of my hood and face. I pulled my hood up, to shield as best as I could.

"I'm doing fine, thank you. My father said to tell you to have a nice day." Vincent's voice was so smooth, so calm, it actually made me jealous. I nodded.

"Well, you can tell him that I said 'thank you'." I answered brilliantly. He smiled at me, giving me a full view of his blindingly white teeth.

"I will." he promised, eyes sparkling. Then he sort of stared at me with those jewel-like eyes, as if he could stare straight into my soul. And I was frozen, unable to move or turn or walk away from his gaze. The whole dazzling feeling was horribly familiar, and it made my heart throb in an odd way. He pushed away from the hood of his car and took a few steps toward me, never breaking his intent stare. When he was close enough that I could see the designers emblem on his vest, he spoke.

"I'm terribly sorry for staring. It's just… you're so different." Translation: you're a freak. "I will never understand how calm you seem to be, how you so readily accept what we are. It… it amazes me, Bella." He paused, but kept staring at me. "My father says that you were immune to that mind readers powers." he mused. There was almost disgust in his voice when he said 'that mind reader'. It surprised me- how much, exactly, had Charlie told them? The thought of the extent of his elaboration embarrassed me for some reason. "Does it surprise you, in fact, to know that you're immune to my powers as well? Just one more thing that astounds me." he asked as his eyes bore into mine. I just stood there, in awe, at the turn our conversation had taken. He seemed genuinely interested with all of this- like I was a new theory in science that he was pondering.

"I- I guess not. A lot of your kind's powers don't work on me." I managed in a shaky voice. He smiled at me, showing me his teeth again. "What _is_ your power, anyways?"

His smile faltered. "I have the power of complete mind control." his answered flatly, as if this angered him. Then his tone changed. "We should both get to class, Bella. The weather isn't exactly fit for an afternoon chat, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes. Of course." I nodded, but I still couldn't move, for his eyes had not left mine. Finally he broke his gaze and looked down at the side walk. We began a stroll towards my English building.

"So… what class do you have right now?" He sounded like one of those cool kids in corny teen movies trying to make conversation with the nerd so that the nerd would do his homework.

"English, building six. What about you?" my voice was, to my pleasure, calm and smooth.

"Trigonometry." he answered, not bothering to glance at the schedule that was suddenly in his hand.

"Oh. Cool." I said, feeling like a complete idiot.

"Would you mind if I walked you to your classroom? It's in the same building, after all." he offered, giving me a small smile. I had no idea why he was even attempting to be nice to me, when I was so… _me. _Un-spectacular, completely opposite of him. But what ever force made him want to walk me to class, I didn't argue with it.

"No, not at all. You just go on right ahead." I swallowed. All of the sudden, the roar of the pouring rain ceased. I stopped walking and glanced around, startled by the silence that now surrounded me. Without the rain, things were eerily quiet.

Just then the tardy bell rang, so we never got the chance to comment about the quick change in weather. We both picked up speed. I realize now, of course, that this was the worst thing that I could have done, given the previous downpour and my lack of coordination.

As we were about to reach the door, I got over excited and stepped square in the middle of a foot-deep hole in the sidewalk, soaking the leg of my jeans. I knew it was there, because I had to carefully walk around it each day. But, what with the reincarnation of perfection at my side, I completely forgot about it. To my embarrassment, I slipped trying to get my foot out of the stupid thing, and was about to land square on my back side. I barely had the time to gasp before pale hands caught me under my arms, the way you were supposed to catch a partner in those 'trust fall' exercises. Before I could blink I was upright again, with Vincent suddenly in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" his voice was urgent, and he sounded sort of scared. My eyes were wide with shock, and I was breathing heavily. Oh, and of course, my face was the color of a tomato.

"Yes. I'm fine. I'm okay." I spoke quickly, to try and calm him down. He took a deep breath, and let it out as a sigh.

"Don't scare me like that. What happened? How did you fall?" he demanded, as if he had missed the whole thing. I stared at him quizzically, because vampires didn't miss anything. _Ever._

"I stepped in that hole, and slipped." I pointed accusingly to it.

"Oh. Well if that's all." his hands dropped from my shoulders, but his voice was full of relief.

"How did you _think_ it happened?" I questioned. I was still confused as to how he had missed the whole episode.

"I didn't know. I was lost in my own thoughts, trying to think of a way to explain why I was late on my first day without brainwashing my teacher, and then I look over and you're about to fall flat on your ass." he paused for a moment. "Excuse my language," he apologized, and offered me a faint smile. "I thought you had fainted, or had lost the use of your legs, or was having a heart attack, or something along those lines." he was rambling.

"No. I just slipped. I'm fine." I repeated. "It sort of happens to me… um… a lot. Falling down, I mean." He opened the doors to the building and stepped aside to let me in first. "But I'm okay."

"Good. Now, we should really get to class." I nodded and turned toward the first door on my right, the door of my classroom.

"Oh, Bella?" he asked, just as my hand rested on the knob of the door. I turned around to face him, avoiding his eyes and, in turn, avoiding complete immobilization.

"Yes?"

He took a step forward, and was suddenly very close to me. I had to tilt my face up so I could look into his eyes. His hand reached up, slowly, hesitantly, and gripped the edge of my hood with his forefinger and thumb. My breathing stopped. Then he gently pulled it off my head, and my wet hair tumbled out, cascading around my shoulders. My heart gave a squeeze when he spoke.

"You really shouldn't wear hoods indoors. It's against proper etiquette." he grinned, his voice teasing and light. I barely managed a nod.

And then he was gone.

-----

**(A/N): Whew! That took so much work. I'm uber excited to hear what you guys have to say- this is the longest chapter I've written in quite some time. Please review. That would be great. On a different note… It's my Twin's turn! I know she'll do wonderful. Please review. It would make our day, and apparently, you'll get cookies and pie. Now, on to chapter five with TheSheWolf!**

**-EdwardCullen'sGirlfriend000**

**(A/N BRAVO! BRAVO! ENCORE! ENCORE! Give it up for the lovely ECG- she did great today didn't she? Remember, you review, you get cookies. Or pie. Or cookies and pie. Its my turn next bitches!!!!!!!! **

**-TheSheWolf) **


	5. Chapter 5

**(Sorry about the double post. The outfits for Bella, Andrew, and Christina are now on our profile. Go check them out. Thank you. -**TheSheWolf**)**

BPOV

One more hour till lunch. Just one more hour until I can get out of this class and into my safe haven that is the library.

Ever since the incident, I had taken to retreating to the library so I wouldn't have to endure watching all of the happy couples flirt shamelessly, and make Eskimo kisses in front of their peers. _I_ used to be the one flirting shamelessly, making Eskimo kisses in front of people who had no interest in my cuteness, and feeling like I was on top of the world because of one person.

Now, watching these people around me, I wanted nothing more than to upchuck what little I had eaten, to heave onto the faux designer shoes of Lauren Mallory while she was fucking Crowley's face with her tongue.

So to stop myself from doing so, I'd made a habit of harboring in the library, hiding inside the worlds of Virginia Woolf, William Shakespeare, Harper Lee, and Emily Bronte.

It was the only place I felt comfortable, seeing as the small town of Forks didn't actually have a public library.

And even after the McKenzie's arrival, I didn't feel the need to go to lunch, so I decided against it, still counting down the minutes until I could finish reading Wuthering Heights under the watchful eye of Ms. Byrd.

Ms. Byrd and I had become quite acquainted within the last few months. Every lunch period I would walk in, she would try to engage in conversation, and I would answer in short, clipped answers. Shortly after, she would ask me if I wanted to join her for lunch, I would ignore her and then proceed to go in the back and read my book silently. It was a very simple and uncomplicated relationship.

The bell rang, and I shot up out of my seat, always the first one out of class, always the first one in.

As I walked with my head down, I thought about Vincent, about how he seemed to be content with me. _Even if it's only been a day_. I thought about he was so different from _him_. His looks, his voice, his all around attitude opposed everything that _he_ stood for. It was different. But I liked it. I think.

Just then, I hit a wall. I shut my eyes and braced myself, ready for the impact of the fall, but it never came. Instead, the wall seemed to catch me, grabbing a hold of my biceps forcefully. I opened my eyes in shock, surprised to see Andrew holding me, a shit-eating grin on his face as he let me go.

"Watch yourself," He said, winking in my direction.

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry about running into you, I have two left feet," I replied, not making eye contact. It was then that I noticed we were right in front of the library, I tried to side-step around Andrew to get to the entrance when he stepped in front of me, effectively catching my attention again.

"You aren't going to lunch?"

"Um, no. I don't really eat . . . lunch." I said shakily. It wasn't something I liked to talk about.

"Well you have to sit with us today. Please? I won't take no for an answer." He raised an eyebrow, his light eyes contrasting deeply against his tan skin.

It was then that I actually noticed what he was wearing. A navy blue polo shirt outlined in baby blue, over slim black jeans, with some black Timberland shoes. A watch and silver chain completed the ensemble. It wasn't at all flashy, on the contrary, it was quite simple, but it made him look like a Calvin Klein model.

"Uh . . . uh well you see-"

"Please?"

I hung my head in defeat as Andrew's grin got bigger, if that was even possible, and watched helplessly as he all but dragged me toward the cafeteria.

As soon as we walked in the cafeteria, I spotted Vincent, sitting alone at a table all the way across the room. He looked up at me and smiled, but I didn't return it seeing as almost every eye was on Andrew and I. And as we trekked through teenagers, he made it worse my yelling at the top of his lungs, "Ay, yo Vincent! I got her!"

"You mean you planned this?" I whisper/yelled as he pushed me towards the table.

"Why are you whispering?" He asked me, making me wonder why I had indeed been whispering and making me feel like a complete fool.

"I . . . . don't know, but that's beside the point. Did you plan this?"

"Nope," He said, popping the 'p' as we sat down.

"Thank goodness,"

"Vinny did!"

Oh lord.

I felt the blood rush to my face as I laid my head down on the table, hiding.

"You really shouldn't hide your face Bella, it's rude," I heard Vincent say from the seat in front of me, his silken voice sliding over every surface, eager to get to my ears.

I peeked up from my hiding place in between my arms to see Vincent smirking down at me, looking superior and reeking of regality.

"What is it with you and manners? Who are you, Prince William?" I retorted, willing myself to not let him get the best of me, and having to admit that it was a difficult feat.

He chuckled before looking across the room to the doors of the cafeteria, I followed his gaze, noticing that it wasn't just him, but everyone was looking at the entrance where Aphrodite herself was standing.

At a second glance, I noticed that it wasn't the Greek goddess, but Christina, reveling in the attention of the entire student body.

She spotted Andrew and started to walk slowly towards us, making sure she flipped her hair over her shoulder when she passed Jessica Stanley's table.

I felt like I was watching a really bad car crash; I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene before me. Christina, in this navy blue and black ensemble, her shirt clinging to her curves and her mini ruffle skirt accentuating her long legs down to her black suede boots. I noticed she was wearing a scarf and the glasses she was wearing hid her golden eyes.

She was so perfect that I was partially blinded, the pain of a wounded ego hurting my eyes.

By the time she got to the table, every eye of every male in the room was transfixed on her ass. It was equally disturbing and amusing.

She slowly unwrapped her scarf and took off her Ray-Bans, she then placed them in her purse, all the while very aware of the prying eyes.

She sat down, practically in Andrew's lap and addressed each of us with a nod of her head, I was last and when she looked at me, I felt her deep-pitted hatred. Though I hardly cared, she barely knew me.

"Was all of that really necessary?" Came Vincent's clipped acknowledgment of Christina's egotistical, almost downright narcissistic, behavior. "I mean really, get over yourself."

"Don't hate me cause I'm perfect, Vincent. Green is not a good color on you," She replied in a sickly sweet and sultry voice. I wanted to puke.

"Yeah, perfectly annoying."

"Hey man," Andrew intercepted. "Don't knock my girlfriend. S'not cool."

She giggled, and I swear the entire male population of Forks swooned. I repeat, I wanted to puke.

I turned around and saw her coming from across the lunch room, eyes determined, jaw set, and completely focused, Lauren Mallory marched over to our table, not looking at anyone but Vincent.

"Um, hi," she said, feigning innocence and shyness. "My name is Lauren and I just wanted to welcome you to our school."

"I didn't know you were on the welcoming committee," I mumbled under my breath, averting my eyes to anywhere but her face.

"What was that, Swan? I don't remember speaking to you."

"Oh nothing, nothing at all, I just find it odd that when they come to Forks, you act all nice and welcoming to them. But when I came here last year, you wanted nothing to do with me. Care to explain?" I was still looking away, gathering courage I had not known I had from the scratches and marks in the round table I was sitting at.

"Look here you-"

"Lauren was it?" Vincent interceded, "Please tell me, what are some of the things you guys do for fun around here, we've been awfully bored."

It was like I saw it in slow motion, Lauren's face it up, ecstatic at finally getting the attention she wanted, and I watched in sheer fascination as she walked around the table and sat right next to Vincent, leaning on him and batting her eyelashes in a way that made me want to . . . . well, puke.

_Hmm, I've been getting nauseous a lot lately, maybe I should look into that_, I thought as I watched Lauren converse with Vincent.

He never took his eyes off her, and I was disgusted by the blatant flirting going on right in front of me.

I turned my head, hoping to find some sort of comfort in at least being able to talk to Andrew. But alas, I was rather shocked to find him eating Christina's face. Well they were kissing, but from this angle and proximity, it looked like he was eating her face.

Without a word I grabbed my things and stood up, dashing out of the cafeteria before anyone had a chance to say anything.

Though no matter how fast I left, I still heard Lauren's rude remark of, "Thank the lord, she's gone."

And I still didn't miss Christina's reply of "_Yes_! We are going to be _best_ friends."

By the time I got to the library, lunch was half way over, and I completely disregarded Ms. Byrd as I dashed to the back, where my pile of books were hiding.

But even Emily Bronte couldn't keep the tears at bay.

"Bella?" I heard a familiar voice say, I looked up to find Ms. Byrd peering down at me, concern pushing her brows together and worry etching the lines in her face. "Are you alright dear?"

"Yes," I replied quickly, hating having to lie to the old woman.

"Alright, well if you need anything, just let me know. I'm always here." I nodded my head, guilt washing over me as she turned around to go back to work.

"Wait!" I called after her, she turned around quickly and looked at me, a gentle smile on her face. "Um, no, I'm not okay. And I don't know why."

She came and sat next to me on the floor, even while there was a perfectly good chair a foot away, she sat on the floor.

"It's a long story," I warned her, not knowing if she was just here for sympathy, or if she was in it for the long haul.

"I've got plenty of time, what's the story sweetie?"

"Well, it's kind of about a girl, and it's kind of about a boy, but mostly, it's about a child who doesn't know how to handle her own issues," And that's how it started. I told her everything. Well, not everything of course, there were parts of the story that I had to edit out or change to fit her knowledge, and most of it was just bits and pieces of the original story. But in the end, I trusted Ms. Byrd more than Dr. McKenzie.

By the time I ended the story, I was exhausted, bags under my eyes, tear stained cheeks, and my hair matted and knotted from my sweat.

The bell had long since rang for the students to departure, so the halls were quiet, and it was all I needed to promptly pass out on Ms. Byrd's lap.

That's how he found me I guess, asleep and incoherent because the next thing I know, I'm waking up in Vincent's arms as he's carrying me to my car.

"What- what are you doing? Put me down!" I struggled against his iron grip, all the while knowing it was no use as I tried to break free.

"Would you stop struggling? Geez Bella, you're just going to end up hurting yourself. Besides, we're already at your car."

I stopped my mini-teenage girl fit to see that we were indeed at my car, he let me down and I swayed, apparently suffering from extreme vertigo.

He grabbed my arms, catching me as I plunged toward the ground, face first. I felt his cold fingers pressing into my biceps, and my first instinct was to rip away from him. But after a while, he had still not let go of me, and I found his chilling presence comforting.

I looked into his eyes, they had grown impeccably darker and they were all I could see. It felt like I was lost, swimming in a sea of onyx darkness as we could continued to stare blatantly at each other.

I don't know how long we stood there, just looking at each other. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, days, a flaming ice cream truck with Marylin Manson screaming out of it could have fallen from the sky and I wouldn't have been the wiser.

Then the weirdest thing happened, one minute Vincent was in front of me, the next he was on the other side of my car, looking everywhere but at me.

"Just . . . drive yourself home, Bella." He whispered. Then he was gone, no longer in my line of sight, no longer in my range of hearing.

With shaking hands I reached into my bag, hectically looking for my keys. Once I found them I pulled them out trying to put them in the keyhole, but my hands were shaking so badly that I dropped them into the puddle at my feet.

I got on my hands and knees, searching blindly for the keys that I knew were there, and I prayed to God I wouldn't wake up with a ringworm in the morning.

Once I found them (again) I was finally able to get into my car and drive home, the whole time fighting back tears of frustration.

When I got home I rushed upstairs, bypassing Charlie and a couple of his Native American friends from the reservation.

I burst through the door to my room, moving around quickly, I grabbed my bag of toiletries and a pair of pajamas. Foregoing the bra, I grabbed my underwear and hauled myself to the bathroom, locking the door and jumping in the shower.

As the cold water hit my skin I couldn't help but to revel in it, the temperature, the cold, wet feeling encasing my body as the room fogged up with the freezing air.

When my skin started wrinkle and when breathing became difficult, I got out of the shower. It was tough seeing as I felt disconnected with my body and all of my movements blurred together.

By the time I was at my door, another game had started, and I could still hear my dad and his friends yelling at the screen.

"Go! Go!"

"What are you doing? Don't drop the ball!"

"Fumble? You fucking idiot!"

We were a very loving, caring family.

I was sitting on my bed when my stomach growled, realizing I skipped lunch I hopped down the steps to the kitchen, ignored by everyone watching the game except for one person. I looked harder to find that it was Jacob.

_Jacob? I hadn't even realized he was here, I guess I must have been really out of it when I came home._

I made a banana smoothie, not bothering with the pizza boxes that I knew were empty and I headed back up to my room again.

I almost dropped my smoothie when I saw that someone was in my room waiting for me. It was Jacob.

"Woah, where'd you come from?"

"Well, when a boy and a girl like each other, there's this raw attraction that causes them to-"

"Alright, I got that, I mean, why are you in my room?"

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while. I just thought I should come up, see how you were doing. How are you, Bella? You look . . . ." He talked with his hands, as though moving them around would somehow give him an answer.

"Dead? Sullen? Pathetic? Come on, I've heard it all before."

"Bella, you just look . . . different. That's all."

"Yeah, I know." I walked into the room and lied down on the bed, forgetting about the smoothie and facing away from Jacob.

When I turned on my side, my t-shirt rode up, exposing a bit of my skin. I pulled it down quickly, not wanting to give Jacob more of a show than he'd already had.

I heard his intake of breath, and I felt rather than saw him reach for me. "Bella, have you been . . . eating?"

I was about to tell him to fuck off, to just leave me alone on this Friday night, and to go home when his phone rang.

_Because You Live_ rang through the speakers of his phone as he hurried to get it, his eyes lighting up and a smile breaking through his dark tan features.

"Sorry, I gotta take this. It's my girl."

He rushed out of the room, excited and apparently very in love.

I made a mental note to never talk to him again.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep 15 minutes later, my door opened and my father walked in_. Do I not have any privacy around these people? _

"Bells? I know you're not asleep. Dr. McKenzie wanted to know if you wanted to schedule an appointment Sunday."

I mumbled out an okay before turning on my back, a clear invitation to leave me the fuck alone.

I was asleep in no time.

* * *

I opened my eyes to find that I was surrounded by darkness. I sat upright and looked around, trying to find a familiar figure or shape around me. Nothing. Everything was completely black. I pushed myself to my feet, finding that I was no longer on my bed anymore, but standing on cold, black ground. I began walking off in a random direction, searching for something, anything, anyone that could pull me from this place.

"Bella," his haunting voice emanated from the darkness, and my head automatically whipped around to trace where the voice had come from.

"Bella," I spun around again, and saw him. There he was, close enough for me to touch. In all of his glory he stood, pale skin practically glowing in contrast to the black surrounding us both. I took a step forward eagerly- he was never this close in my dreams- when suddenly, he was four yards away. He called out to me once more, and I took off running. With every step I took, he seemed to get farther and farther away.

"No. No!" I cried, pushing myself to run faster, run harder. I was almost there when his ghostly image flickered once, twice, a third time, and suddenly, it was Vincent standing before me. I skidded to a stop, clutching at my dry throat, willing for oxygen to return to me.

"Come on, Bella, this way." Vincent's voice drifted over to where I was standing. I swallowed and took a few steps. He seemed to be getting closer, unlike Edward. I took a few more, and a few more, until I was basking in the glow of his skin. I forced myself to look up into his amber eyes, and before I could take another breath, he was gone.

"Bella, have you been . . . eating?"

* * *

I sat up bolt-right, sweating, and shaking, as my watery eyes wandered frantically over my bedroom. Empty. _No one's here. I'm all alone._ I thought, semi reassuringly. _As usual._

I looked at the clock on my bedside table. 10:09. Charlie was already at work.

I got up, hair matted from sweating and tossing and turning in my sleep, and I went to take another shower. To wash away the remnants of the previous night, the previous nightmare.

Once I was finished, I started my homework, keeping my mind occupied with tedious work. It was times like these that I needed to keep going, to keep my mind away from wandering. Because when my mind wandered, it always went places I didnt want it to. Places like . . . . places like Edward.

God, being chronically depressed sucks.

**(God this chapter took forever. But it's finally here! Yay! And it's all thanks to me! I did it all by myself. (ECG coughs in the background) Oh yeah, and she helped too. You guys can just make your reviews out to **TheSheWolf**. Capital T, capital S, capital W. Thank you! Lol, you know I kid. For the most part anyway. Just review okay? Okay. **

-TheSheWolf

**Can we get a round of applause for my wonderful Twin? Come on Twin, take a bow. Go ahead. Take one.... Alright, that's enough bowing. But really though, she did wonderful, you must admit. Maybe you could review to show your love? Hmm? Yes, I think you should. Anyhoo, it's my turn next! Get ready for THE THUNDER! =) **(-TheSheWolf I'm the lightning, why? Cause it comes before thunder!)** On to chapter six. Review review review! Lots of love for our wonderful readers. **

3- ECG000**)**


	6. Chapter 6

BPOV

Five nights later, I sat up in bed, a scream erupting from my chest. My hand covered my mouth to stop the shriek- I couldn't seem to stop myself on my own. I whipped my head around and searched my dark room frantically, making sure that I was actually back to reality and not still in the black holes that were my nightmares. Then, peeling off my sweat soaked shirt and tossing it onto the floor, I collapsed back on my bed and tried to catch my breath. Gasping for air, throat aching, and dying of thirst, I laid there for a few more minutes before I went downstairs to face Charlie.

This nightmare, the very one that had visited me the day that Jacob and Billy had been over at my house, had been reoccurring over and over again every time I fell asleep. I probably should have been used to it by now, after living through it six times, counting the nap I took yesterday afternoon, but I wasn't. And each time it happened, I woke up more frightened and scared and shaking than the time before. I turned my head so that my cheek was pressed against my pillow, allowing me to see a bit of the outside world through my window. It was overcast, which wasn't shocking, but it made my mood a little worse. Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself up from my sweaty sheets, pulled on a new shirt and gathered my hair up in a messy ponytail.

Off balance and weak from last night's dream, I made my way down the stairs clumsily, almost tripping on the last step. Expecting Charlie to be sitting in one of the mismatched chairs at the kitchen table, I smoothed my hair some and rubbed the grogginess from my eyes before entering the kitchen. But when I turned the corner into the kitchen, ready to grab myself a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of O.J, I found that he wasn't there. I froze for a second and then cocked an ear towards the stairs, listening for his telltale snores that always let me know whether or not he was actually sleeping. Silence. Now that I thought about it, he didn't come into my bedroom after I screamed this morning either. Hmm. I walked to the window and pulled at the drapes to find that the cruiser wasn't in the driveway. I furrowed my brows for a moment, but then shrugged it off. Charlie was a big boy. He was fine; probably at the station or something.

I went for the cereal and bowl in the cupboards and then reached in the fridge for the milk and orange juice. I probably shouldn't have been balancing all of this in my arms at once, considering my klutzy reputation, but I managed to make it to the table without dropping so much as a Cheerio. It really was a sight to see.

I picked up the folded paper lying in the center of the table and opened it, flipping through the pages while my bowl of cereal sat untouched. As I was scanning, a headline caught my eye:

**MALE MODELS NEEDED- NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. GOOD PAY. CALL:**

**961-555-0127**

Almost without my permission, my mind went straight to Vincent. Of course they did. He would be the best male model that agency had ever hired- not that Vincent would need the money. Come to think about it, he really would be great. With all his golden, thick hair and his angelic, perfect face- high cheek bones, good, strong jaw, piercing, fiery, honey-colored eyes…. and, (though I hadn't seen it, so I didn't _actually_ know) his amazing body. He could advertise for anything and everything. Everyone would love him, he would be famous, girls would be all over him… an image of Lauren Mallory, draped over him while cameras flashed in the background suddenly flooded my mind.

I didn't realize that I had ripped the paper in half until I looked back down and saw two, crinkled pieces in my hands.

Why did I always do this? Always let people get the best of me, let them get in my head… It was all Lauren's damn fault, too. All week she had been waving and winking and strutting and swinging her perfect little ass in Vincent's face. And I knew it wasn't a coincidence that she had worn the shortest of miniskirts and shorts all week long, showing off her soccer legs. Stupid whore. Oh, and of course, every time she saw me standing next to Vincent or sitting at the McKenzie's lunch table, she would give me an especially hateful glare, then return to being a skank and would bend over in front of some guy.

Honestly, I didn't even see why she would appear attractive to anyone. Sure, her hair was thick, long, curly, and bleach blonde, and maybe she had the best body in the entire high school, but she was nasty. I don't mean that she smelled bad or didn't brush her teeth, nothing like that. I mean that she's a total whore. Her pants appear to be painted on, and sit so low on her hips- I'm surprised that there aren't any pubes showing. Her shorts are itty bitty, so short that the pockets peek out the bottom, and tight. Not to mention that she's slept with the entire football team, and at least half of the lacrosse team. Apparently, to males, that was considered appealing and sexy, but personally, I thought she was disgusting.

The worst part? Vincent actually bought into the whole, 'I'm-pretty-and-sweet-you-should-totally-date-me' act. Four times this past week I had to sit and watch while he blatantly flirted with her- and I mean the entire package: giggling, complimenting, winking, grinning… it made me gag. I tried to pretend not to notice, tried to act like it didn't bother me, but I knew better. I knew that Vincent, maybe even Andrew and Christina, saw through my façade. Lauren most likely did, too, which was probably why she always side-glanced at me while she laughed at all of Vincent's jokes and pushed her boobs up in his face and practically sat on his lap, just to make sure I was watching.

Suddenly, interrupting my hateful thoughts, the telephone began ringing. I pushed away from the table and threw the torn paper onto the ground, annoyed. I made my way to the kitchen counter quickly, before the person on the other line hung up. I snatched the phone from the base mid-ring, and brought it to my ear.

"Swan residents." I said, my voice hoarse- probably from screaming last night during my dream. I cleared my throat while the person on the other end answered.

"Bella?" Dr. McKenzie's smooth, purr-like voice came out of the phone.

"Oh, hi Dr. McKen- Steven." I corrected myself. "Good morning." I added after second thought, trying to be polite.

"Good morning to you, too. Your father told me that it was okay to schedule a session today- are you still up for it?" his voice was cautious and slow, like he was afraid saying the wrong thing would make me snap. As he spoke I eyed the bowl of cereal sitting on the table- knowing that I wasn't going to finish it. I grabbed the phone cradle so that I wouldn't stretch the cord and made my way over to the table as I answered.

"Of course. Sure." I nodded my head, even though he couldn't see me.

"Alright, great. My office or your home?" I reached for the full bowl and grabbed it, turning on my heel and going back towards the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked after a moment, when I realized that I had totally missed his question.

"I said, would you like to have your session in my office or in your home?"

"Oh. Um, my house is fine, I'm more comfortable here anyways." I admitted while dumping the cereal down the drain. I turned on the tap and rinsed out the leftover Cheerios that were stuck to the inside of the rim.

"I thought so. Okay then, is noon alright for you?" he asked. I washed and dried the bowl, and set it on the counter. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was ten-thirty, which gave me plenty of time to be showered and decent by noon.

"Noon is fine." I agreed, nodding my head again. I leaned against the counter and tapped my fingers against my thigh.

"Okay. I'll see you then, Bella."

"Goodbye, Steven."

"Goodbye, Bella."

I placed the phone back on the cradle and replaced it to its original spot on the counter. Biting my lip when I realized that I had a full hour and a half alone with my mind, I decided to finish the dishes. I scrubbed at the plates and cups methodically, my mind wandering to my upcoming session. I wondered what was going to happen this time.

After those were done, I dried my wrinkled hands on my pants and stumbled back up the stairs. I grabbed a towel and a change of clothes out of my room and crossed the hall, into the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and dropped my towel on the closed toilet seat, placing my clothes on the counter. Undressing quickly, I turned on the shower, twisting the hot tap as far as it would go. I stepped into the scalding water, letting the heat and steam relax my tense muscles.

I washed and conditioned my hair, shaved my legs, and got out of the shower fully calmed and at ease. I wrapped up in my towel and dried off, then applied the lavender lotion my mother had bought me last month to my legs. I pulled on my clothes then ran a comb through my tangled hair and when it was smooth and knot-free, I braided it back at the nape of my neck. _I really need to get a life._ I grumbled to myself internally, thinking about what other girls my age should be doing at this time on a normal Sunday. Glancing at my clock once more, I saw that it was eleven forty-five. I had fifteen minutes left alone. Fifteen minutes until I had to spill my inner-most thoughts to someone whom I hardly knew. Fifteen minutes. I sighed and crossed the hall back into my bedroom, and crawled up onto my bed.

I picked up my language arts textbook from my bedside table and began reading the excerpt of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. We were supposed to read it, give a one page summary, and write a three page essay comparing and contrasting it to _Romeo and Juliet,_ and turn it in on Thursday_._ I had neglected the project for obvious reasons.

Just as I was getting really lost in the chaos and insanity of _Theseus_ and _Hippolyta_, the doorbell rang and brought me out of Shakespeare's world. I jumped at the sound, and it took me a moment to figure out who it could be here.

I made my way down the stairs quickly, reaching the door just as the grandfather clock in the hall chimed, letting me know it was twelve. When I opened the door, Steven was waiting there for me with a smile on his angelic face.

"Hello, Bella." he said cheerfully. I stepped aside to let him in.

"Hi there, Mr. Punctual." I answered, swinging the door shut behind him.

"How has your day been?" he asked, smiling at my teasing, trying to be conversational. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Okay. Uneventful," I said flatly. His smile faltered for a second. "How about your day? Anything special happen?" I added, knowing it was what he wanted to hear.

"My day has been great, thanks for asking. Your forests in Forks are very nice hunting grounds." he commented, his glowing grin back in its place, setting his briefcase on the counter.

"So I've been told." I muttered, picking at my fingernails absentmindedly as conversations about the wild animals living around here with _him_ flooded my mind. I shook my head to clear it, looked up, and noticed him gazing at me worriedly.

"Uh, we should probably get started." I murmured, heat rising to my cheeks.

"Of course." he nodded his head, looking away. I started walking, my head down, up the stairs to my bedroom. I had to look over my shoulder to see if Steven was actually following me, because I couldn't hear another set of footsteps against the creaky wood stairs. He caught me staring at him and rose his eyebrows in question.

"Sorry. I… forgot… how quiet vampires could be." I said quietly, feeling like an elephant with the way my feet clamored noisily against the stairs.

"Oh." he answered, clearly not knowing how to respond. I pushed open the door of my bedroom, kicking my pajamas from last night into a corner. I crawled onto my bed and sat, cross legged, in the center, and pushed my textbook off of my mattress. I reached behind me and grabbed one of my pillows, hugging it to my chest, as Steven pulled my computer chair from under my desk and spun it so that it faced the bed. He sat down on it, making me look like a schizophrenic patient with his graceful, fluid movements.

"So, Bella." he said, laying his briefcase on my desk and popping it open. He pulled out a yellow legal pad, clipboard, and silver fountain pen, and scribbled something down. "Last time I was here, we talked about why you were in the state that you're in. Please, tell me. How long has it been since the Cullens left Forks?" Ignoring the painful squeeze my heart gave, I answered in a small voice.

"About five months." Knowing full well that it had been five months, two weeks, and five days, but I didn't say that. Steven nodded, placed an elbow on the arm of the chair, and propped his chin in his upraised hand.

"So Edward left five months ago, and this is the first time you've been approached with the idea of counseling?" I inhaled sharply as the pain of my wounded heart responded to his name. I had to get used to it being said out loud; I knew that. So I didn't say anything to Steven. But knowing this didn't make it hurt any less.

"No." I shook my head, focusing through the aching throb in my chest. "Charlie asked me about therapy after a month. My mother stepped in and asked me after two."

"So why did you deny them? You know that you have a problem, Bella; you know that this isn't healthy. You've known this since the beginning; you said so yourself last Sunday. So why have you waited this long?" His question hung in the air. "You understand that by letting this go on for so long, you've only worsened your condition, right? You understand that allowing yourself to be consumed by your depression has only led to weakness and vulnerability?" I took each of his words and let them sink into my head, even though every syllable stung my suffering heart. I let them prick and throb, because something that was painful always had a way of sticking out in your mind, always had a way of reserving a special place so that it would be remembered. And I needed to remember this, so that I could look back and know why I was going through these sessions at all. Then, I scrunched up my forehead and thought about his original question for a moment before answering.

I had waited this long for therapy because I knew that if I got help, and if I was treated, then I would be forced to forget; to leave him and his family and everything that they meant to me, behind. Even now, I couldn't really remember certain things- the way he smelled, the way his hair felt between my fingers, the electric feeling I got in my stomach when his marble-hard, but always gentle, lips were pressed against mine. These were things that I already lost, and I didn't want to lose more.

I didn't realize I was speaking out loud until Steven put a hand up to quiet me. I closed my mouth and waited for him to speak.

"Bella, if you don't want to forget him, than these sessions are useless. It sounds awful for me to say that, but I'm not here to comfort you. I'm here to help you. You can only get better when you accept the help I give you, and to do that you need to give him up and move on." his voice was gentle and comforting, like my mother's had been the day that I fell off of our backyard swing and broke my arm. I wanted to break down right there and sob.

Suddenly, I sensed that I was being watched. That feeling of someone's eyes burning holes in the back of my head quickly overwhelmed me, and my eyes roamed around my room to find the source. Steven's voice was now just a small murmur in the background, a white noise, a small speck on my radar. My eyes fell on my window, and without saying anything, I jumped up and went to look outside to make sure that I was seeing things right.

"Bella?" Steven asked as I pressed my hands up against the glass and peered out. But I wouldn't take my eyes off of the forest to the left. I hadn't been wrong; it was there.

Just outside, at the edge of the trees. He wasn't hard to spot, what with his glowing pale complexion and hair so bright that it was almost alive. Perched on a thick oak branch in a squatting position, still as a statue, was Vincent McKenzie. His deep, onyx eyes locked with mine, and I stopped breathing entirely. The wind picked up outside, fanning his golden hair around his face, making him appear god-like and heavenly. I gasped delicately and brought my face closer to the glass, so that the tip of my nose just grazed the cold surface. Never faltering his gaze, he smiled, waved once, and winked at me.

I barely had time to blink before he was gone, having disappeared into the greenery surrounding my home.

"Bella?" Steven said again, louder this time. I kept my eyes on the branch that he had been crouching on, waiting to see if he would return. No such luck. "Are you okay?" I nodded my head without looking away.

"Uh, yeah. I… I'm fine. Just thought I saw something." I muttered, dazedly situating myself back on the center of my bed. _Deep breaths, Bella._I ordered myself silently. _No one was there. Just your imagination running wild once again._ I rolled my eyes internally, annoyed that I had made such an idiot out of myself.

"Sorry, Steven. I thought I saw someone outside." I apologized again, this time genuinely. He waved a hand at me like it was no big deal, but I could see from the look in his topaz eyes that he knew something I didn't. But of course I couldn't prove anything, and I got the sense that he knew that, too.

Damn vampire.

**Vincent POV**

_She saw me. She saw me, God damnit. Now Dad's going to know I'm out here… Fuck my life. Fuck it right up it's ass._

_Play it cool, Vincent. Play it cool. Don't act surprised. Pretend that you knew she was going to come to the window and catch you listening in on her very private and confidential therapeutic session. Yeah. Act like it was what you wanted. You_wanted_to look like a total ass. Like you_willed_her to look out that damned window. Which, in normal circumstances, was something that I would have been able to do anyways. But these are not normal circumstances. Oh no._

All of this went through my head faster then it took her to actually realize it was _me_. Her tiny, pale hands pressed up against the window and she moved her face closer to the glass. She squinted her eyes, creating a little crease in between her eyebrows. It was slightly adorable- alright, totally fucking adorable. Giving myself another twenty milliseconds, I took a semi-deep breath, and made my move. I aimed my gaze directly at her brown eyes, so that she knew that I saw her and wasn't afraid of her. I gave her my best cocky grin, a half wave, and a charming little wink that said, "_Yeah, you're welcome ladies."_ Then, coiling my muscles and preparing to jump, I sprang forward and gripped the branch above me_,_swinging forward in a trapeze-like motion, dropped down to the mossy ground, and took off running in the opposite direction of her house. If my heart wasn't stone-cold and dead in my chest, it would have been pounding in my ears; not from exertion, but from anxiety.

My life is so over. Dad is going to rip me to pieces when he's done with Bella- I wouldn't put it against him to actually remove an appendage. I winced as I thought of which one he would actually choose. I paused as I reached the thicker, denser region of the forest. A shrill, quick beep echoed through the silent trees, the sound originating from my pocket. My hand fumbled in my jeans for my phone, wanting to stop the noise before all of the animals were scared away.

Flipping it open, I saw that I had a text message. From Dad.

"Shit," I muttered to myself, grudgingly clicking the 'accept' button.

_Vincent, wait for me at home. I'll be there in about an hour. I wouldn't attempt going elsewhere, if I were you._

Vincent. He called me Vincent. _Fuck, I'm so dead._ He only called me Vincent when he was almost explosive with fury. I could just picture him, fuming, practically vibrating with anger as he typed out the message on his phone, probably almost breaking it in his hands a few times.

The worst part was, it wasn't even my fault. Really! If Bella wasn't so intriguing, so appealing, so wonderfully amazing and stupendous, then I wouldn't have felt so compelled to listen in and find out the inner-workings of her mind. Her mind which was completely closed off to me. Me, _and_ my gift. But I'm sure that if I told this to my father, he would probably just laugh instead of scream with rage while he tore me to bits.

Okay, I was being a bit melodramatic. . . . well very melodramatic.

I kicked at a twig, using my full force instead of holding back the raw power inside me, the way I did in front of humans. The stick went flying, crashed into a tree a few yards away, and actually lodged into the trunk the way a Chinese ninja star would. I smiled to myself; I had always enjoyed being a vampire.

Extending my arms above me, I leaped into the air and grabbed hold of a branch, swung backwards once and hurled myself twenty extra feet up, doing a double front flip. I landed silently back onto the forest floor. Not so much as a leaf crunched when I touched back down- something that still, after one hundred and ninety extensive years of being immortal, brought a grin to my lips.

I sat down on the damp, mossy ground, and folded my legs beneath me in a cross-legged formation. I decided that I would give myself fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes that I would use to prepare to defend each of my appendages, fifteen minutes so that I would be ready to give a full explanation of my reasons for listening to him and his client's session.

But, instead of working on each of these tasks, my thoughts crept back to Bella.

Bella…

How she astounded me! How she surprised me each day with her shyness, her innocence, her vulnerability. Her witty comebacks, her blushing face. Her soft brown eyes, her so easily set-off temper. Everything about her sent me deep into thought, made me want to know more about her. Each time she blushed, I wondered what was said that made her so embarrassed. Whenever she looked at me with those doe eyes, I wanted to freeze time and keep her there, staring at me, for eternity. I wanted to know everything about her, and for her to know everything about me.

I knew all these feelings were irrational. I knew they were wrong and stupid and senseless- I had only just met her a week ago. I also was aware that she was a complete mess, that she needed time and guidance before she could ever be with anyone, romantically or otherwise. I saw her face each day when Andrew dragged her to our lunch table, and I realized that it made her slightly uncomfortable, but something inside me wouldn't give up on the idea of her warming up to us. I mean sure, she always turned red with anger whenever Lauren Mallory winked or waved at me, and yeah, she stomped off whenever Christina decided it would be appropriate to eat Andrew's tongue, but hell, so would I. And, maybe I had imagined it, but I could swear that she didn't whine quite as much and she didn't put up the usual resistance when Andrew lead her to our table on Friday.

I shook my head, trying to clear it, trying to shake away thoughts of the girl that definitely wasn't just another human.

I pushed myself off the ground again, eager to cloud my mind with something other than Bella. Searching for something else to focus on, I decided to do a little more physical exercise. Springing forward, I landed poised on a branch fifteen feet in the air, without even quivering the limb. Then I flung myself up and out, tucking in my knees and flipping backwards, and grabbing hold of a different branch, a lower one, just before I hit the ground. I swung myself off of that one and spun myself around in the air, and landed on the balls of my feet, seven yards from where I had been standing before.

I glanced down at my phone- I had forty five minutes until Dad got home. Sighing, I decided that I might as well go on home, just in case he decided that he was so angry, that he would come home early. That would not be good.

I raked my hands through my hair in frustration, reached up, and yanked out the branch that was stuck inside the trunk. I threw it on the ground roughly, completely un-excited about what awaited for me at home. Of course, I knew I was in the wrong, but it didn't make me look forward to it anymore.

I mean honestly, I was over two hundred years old, did he really think he could ground me? Did he really think he could glare at me until I broke down into a blabbering mess, confessing things he didn't even know about? And did he really think I would listen to him? _Yes,_was the answer to all of those questions.

I broke into a sprint, trying to enjoy the wind in my hair, on my face, blowing back my leather jacket. I attempted to find pleasure in the rush of it all, tried to pretend that I was just outside, running for no particular reason, simply to feel the pure happiness and joy that running usually gave me. But it didn't work. Not today.

Ten minutes had passed and I was at the house- er, _my_ house. I jogged up the steps lightly, and smoothed my clothes and the disarray of blonde on top of my head that was my hair. I opened the door, stepping in and closing it as quietly as I could. Strolling into the living room, I found Christina and Andrew on the brand new, deep maroon love seat and Benita on the larger sofa. A book was open in her lap, while the only thing in Andrew's lap was Christina. I rolled my eyes at Benita's lack of discipline on the PDA, and then plopped down next to her.

"Good afternoon, everyone." I said quietly, grabbing the remote and flicking on the TV.

"Absolutely not." Benita snapped, without looking up from her book. "Go wait for your father in your room." she finally lifted her head to glare at me, ordering me with her onyx eyes.

"Ugh! I _hate_ technology." I muttered, setting the remote on the coffee table. I could see Benita smirking quietly in my peripheral vision. I mentally rolled my eyes at her.

"What'd Veronica do this time, Auntie?" Andrew asked, glancing at me mockingly. I stopped in my tracks and whipped around to face Andrew, glaring. He snorted at me quietly.

"It's none of your concern, Dear." Benita answered in her soft wind-chime voice. Andrews cocky grin was gone, a childish, spanked-puppy pout on his lips. I chuckled to myself all the way up the stairs, ignoring the daggers that Benita was throwing my way.

"My name isn't Veronica, either, douche." I grumbled when I got to my bedroom, knowing Andrew could hear me perfectly fine.

"I'll stick with Vin-Vin, then, if you prefer." he called back. Christina giggled intriguingly, and I could hear the smack of her lips as she gave Andrew a kiss on the neck. I made a gagging face, but stayed quiet- I knew Benita wouldn't keep up with our bickering for long, and I didn't need one more thing to piss my dad off.

In order to pass the time until my dad got home, I thought long and hard about what I would say when he got there.

"No dad, I wasn't outside Bella's window eavesdropping on her very private and very confidential session with you. And I know it probably looked like I was stalking her, and you know kind of, almost, sort of, made her go to the window to see me listening to what she was saying. But that was not the case. Oh no. You see, it was a science experiment of sorts. Mr. Banner asked us to observe some sort of living creature in their natural habitat. And that was what I was doing. What was that? Oh, you want to call Mr. Banner and volunteer some ideas and information? Oh that's not needed. He's got everything under control."

"Vinny, no one wants to hear you whine and moan about your little bitch." Not even a second after she had finished her sentence, I was downstairs, looming over Christina as she was still in Andrews lap, his arms around her waist.

"If you ever disrespect Bella behind her back, to her face, or even on the _moon_, you will be sorry." I seethed, my voice coming out in a calm whisper, but my face betraying my emotions.

She raised an eyebrow at me and smirked, rolling her eyes and turning back to Andrew, who however, took my threat much more seriously.

"I highly doubt that, because to get to her, you'll have to kill me. And you're not killing me." He stood up, his height not even close to my tall frame, but his wide shoulders and biceps intimidating nonetheless. I was not fazed.

Benita got between us quickly, her hands on each of our chests pushing us back slightly as my dad burst through the door.

"Vincent, the river. Now," He didn't give an explanation as he pointed towards the back of the house.

I didn't even look back as I raced outside, almost slamming the sliding glass door in my haste to get away from Christina.

I should have known Andrew wouldn't have taken it lightly. He was always so protective of her. I never knew why, she had always proven she could take care of herself. Hell, she probably could have taken both of us in a fight if it weren't for my mind control abilities and Andrew's uncanny ability to make her fall to her knees with a single look. And yes, fall to her knees, in the literal sense of the phrase.

I shuddered as I got to the river, not really wanting to think about my sister in that compromising position. I bounded over it, letting a loud and free yell escape my lips as I landed on the other side.

"Didn't I tell you I wanted you here immediately?" I heard my dad's voice as he approached me; I turned around, facing him head on. I was so not in the mood for his elusive bullshit. If he wanted to yell at me, then he should have done it the second he walked in the door.

"Yep," I nodded snarkily. "Actually you said 'Vincent, river. Now.' Which, now that you think about it, doesn't really make any sense. It would have been impossible for me to get here at that moment in time because that moment was then, not now. Now if you would have said, 'Vincent, river. As soon as possible.' Then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Don't sass me, boy."

"Ooh, _boy_. That's a new one. Who taught it to you? Was it that mean old secretary with the long beard? That totally seems like something he would say."

"Are you stalling?" He got closer, fuming now. I had the feeling his face would be tomato red if we were human. His eyebrows were scrunched up together, his lips pressed together in a tight line, his ears were even doing the weird twitch thing they did when he got mad. Now _that_ was not a pretty picture.

"I don't know. Is it working?" I turned my head, looking up the nearest tree. "Oh look! An eagle! Wait- no, that would be a helicopter."

Faster than lightning, my dad grabbed my chin and twisted my face around until I was looking him dead in the eye.

I closed my eyes, averting his gaze, and breathed deeply. "Let go."

"Look at me." He practically shouted.

"Let . . .go of me. Now."

After five seconds of being held like an insolent child, I grew frustrated. I grabbed my father's arm and twisted it behind his back, laying my forearm on his spine to keep him from getting out of my iron grip.

"I've done things behind your back that you wouldn't even think about thinking about. I am a grown man and you couldn't tell me any different. You are my father and I will treat you as such, but you will not treat me as a child." I whispered into his ear. A low growl rumbled in his chest; his lip curled back over his teeth.

I let go of him, trying to go easy on him. I didn't want to hurt him; I just wanted him to listen to me for once.

Now my dad has always been the fastest of us all, which was why I almost didn't see it when he reached out and cupped my throat tightly in his fist, effectively cutting off my air supply.

It didn't hurt, but without air, I couldn't speak. And I had a feeling he knew that.

"Listen, you ungrateful little punk," He spoke, venom spewing forth from his mouth. "I've done everything for you. I've put a roof over your head for almost two whole centuries. I've dedicated my life to you and Christina. And all I ask is a little respect in return. But you can't even give me that."

I didn't even bother to struggle with him, being an older vampire meant that he was much stronger than I. So, I just stood there and listened attentively, albeit a little stubbornly.

"Hey, Dad, just a quick PS- I heard her, and she didn't even know that it was me! She thinks it's all in her imagination. So, really, you're wasting oxygen." I tried, after he finally loosened his grip a tiny tad.

"You shut your mouth and listen to me for one second, Vincent!" he exclaimed, tightening his grip. I was growing more and more angry each second, and I knew it wasn't long until I snapped. My father and I had that quality within us both. He continued on, oblivious to the ticking time bomb in me.

"And not only have you been disrespectful, but you invaded the privacy of a very nice young lady. We were in the middle of a very in-depth and heart-felt conversation and you butted in like you were some sort of . . .God! Who the hell do you think you are? Do you not realize that everything, _everything_ could have been ruined, right there? I wouldn't be able to help her; no one would. And she would never get better, never heal from this depression. Did that occur to you? Did you think about that when you decided you had the right to be sneaky and conniving?

"Honestly Vincent, what _were_ you thinking? That you would just give her that panty-dropper wink and she would succumb to your will? She's not like that! You can't get in her mind! She's just another girl, Vincent. Just let her go."

With the strength I hadn't known I'd had, I yanked out of my dad's grip. He stood there, stunned, as I slowly backed away. I spoke clearly and calmly, looking him dead in the eye, but not because I was over my anger. It was more like the calm before a storm.

"I will do no such thing! I am an adult. And if I want her, I can have her. And trust me on this, I _will_ have her."

And with those final words, I vanished, rushing off into the forest behind of me.

I was not followed.

**(A/N): Phew! It is such a relief to have finally posted this chapter, I thought we were going to be forever stuck with five measly entries. I'm terribly sorry for the delay, some Internet problems have been occurring of late. But not to worry, starting next month, all of our issues will be solved! My Dear Twin is up next with Chapter 7, and might I add that I am extremely excited to be able to say that now! Go us! Everybody, break out in a booty dance for the TwilightTwinz. Don't worry, we won't laugh at your attempts to booty dance! Well, not much anyways... Tee hee. Anyways, please review! All constructional critique and tips are appreciated, as are praise and compliments, so keep them coming!**

**With Love,**

**ECG000**

**Okay, I'm really sorry this took so long and I will take the blame for everything. Anyways, what do you think of the peeping Tom that is Vincent? And Andrew? What about his totally unpredictable rage? We've got some surprises for you coming up next so stay tuned and review! **

**Also, I recommend **A Misguided Ghost** by **Lennystw**. It's a very good read, its different. Read it if you want something new!**

**-TheSheWolf**


	7. Chapter 7

"So there I am, watching these two go at it! Funniest shit you've ever seen in your life, I promise you." My neighbor-yes, _neighbor_-Bree, giggled as she finished her story about a fight at her previous high school.

I had met her after moving into my new penthouse apartment-yes, penthouse _apartmen_t-after my argument with Papa McKenzie. Its located 20 minutes away from Port Angeles, the ideal distance from both my school and my family, whom I technically didn't really want to see at this point. But rubbing in the fact that I finally have my own place in Christina and Andrew's faces is an opportunity that I just could not pass up.

Anyways, back to Bree, she had knocked on my door saying that she had officially wanted to welcome me into the building but ended up staying after I invited her in for some company. Well technically, I just wanted to look at her some more, but I'll take that with me to the grave. Figuratively speaking, of course.

I'm not even going to lie, she was fucking beautiful; light brown, mocha skin, moss green eyes, and a splash of dark freckles across her nose. And don't even get me started on her body. Seriously. Don't even go there. But alas, she was not my type. And I am a one-woman man.

"So . . ." We both started at the same time, trying to think of something to say to break the awkward tension that had built up during the silence. Luckily, we didn't have to because someone picked that moment to knock on my door.

I opened it to find a small, elderly woman with glasses and salt and pepper hair pulled up into a bun on the top of her head.

"Hi, can I help-"

"Yes, you can help me. My name is Elizabeth and since you're young and new to the building, I'd like to go over a few things with you." She said, cutting me off rudely.

"Okay, well with all due respect ma'am-"

"First of all, I don't want to hear none of that crap you youngsters call music blaring down the hallway. I don't want to wake up to Kathy Perry or Lil Payne at 3 o' clock in the morning on a Sunday. Keep the volume to a minimum."

"See, Miss, this is really unnecessary-"

"Next, I know you folk like to party and get down, but that doesn't mean I want to hear your girl scream bloody Mary while in the throes of passion. If she can't be quiet, then it means she's faking it and needs to be kicked out anyway."

"Wow, um . . . okay. But Miss Elizabeth-"

"And finally, if some big guy named Lenny asks for me, tell him I skipped town. Got it?" She asked, scanning me with her eyes through the thick lenses of her glasses.

"Yup," I said, really just giving up on reasoning with this woman.

"Good boy."

I chuckled to myself as I watched the elderly woman scurry off to her own apartment one door down from myself.

I turned around to find Bree leaning against my pool table-yes_, pool table_; it was brand fucking new-with a look of contentment on her face.

"A. Who was that? And B. Why are you looking all post-coital?"

"Well that was Mrs. Newton. She does that to all of the new young tenants, she's just lonely. Mad because her grandson doesn't call or visit so she's bitter." She sighed.

"And the look of satisfaction on your face?"

"You have a nice ass."

"Oh yes, it is nice and pert, isn't it?" I joked, slapping my behind jokingly.

"But of course!" Bree exclaimed dramatically, tossing her hair from one side to the other and placing her hand on her chest. In doing so, she looked at her watch and saw that it was getting late. "You know, I really should get going. I've been here long enough and a couple of my girlfriends should be here in a little while to pick me up."

"Girlfriends? I wasn't aware you rolled that way. Can I watch?"

"Ha ha, very funny. I'm going to leave now. You know where to find me!" She called as she walked out my door.

Well, that was interesting.

Even more interesting was the fact that my phone was ringing, and it was Benita's name lighting up the screen.

Interesting indeed.

I pressed the little green telephone icon and put the phone to my ear, putting on my best missing-you-so-much-it-makes-me-sad-inside voice, I spoke. "Benita?"

"Sweetie, I hope you know you don't have to do this. I mean, we all miss you around here." She sounded a little down, and it made me feel guilty because out of everyone in the house, Benita was the only one I never wanted to disappoint.

"_No we don't!_" Andrew yelled loudly in the background. Fucker.

"With all due respect, Benita, I have a feeling that you're the only one who wants me back. And I know where I'm not wanted, and besides, I have a feeling I'm going to like it here." I walked over to the window of my apartment, looking down at the cars and passersby, knowing damn well I wasn't going anywhere. "And look, if it makes you feel better, I'll stop by anytime you want."

"I don't know," She sounded unsure of herself, or rather, myself. And I couldn't blame her.

Really, I couldn't.

So I did what I did best, I used the powers of persuasion. "Please, Benita? I mean, I'm old enough to be a grandfather and I've never even been out on my own. Never had to find a job, learn responsibility, or even fend for myself. Can you please grant me this escape from being sheltered?" I was begging. For what? I honestly couldn't tell you. But I was, and it worked when I heard Benita's sigh of defeat on the other line.

"Alright sweetie, I'm glad that you're happy. You're welcome back anytime."

"I know."

We said our goodbyes and I was left wondering where I'd start my first hunting session as a free man. Or vampire, whichever way you look at it.

* * *

BPOV

Shoot me.

Just shoot me. In the face._ Please._

In the midst of everything going on in my life, I'd almost forgotten that today was February fourteenth, and love is most definitely in the air. It's sickening and makes me want to barf.

I'm in the lunchroom, sitting at the center table with Vincent and Lauren, Andrew and Christina, Jessica and Mike, and Angela and Ben, feeling like a complete 9th wheel.

Lauren was flirting religiously with Vincent and it was downright nauseating. He, for once, was paying her no attention; instead trying to catch my eye to tell me about this surprise he had for me.

"And it's awesome, I mean, I can't wait to show you." Lauren was hanging on his shirt, grabbing the material and trying to pull his attention to her. Vincent, being who he was-or rather _what_ he was- was not fazed, and just kept prying her fingers off of him every time she made an attempt to sway him.

Everyone else, however, was doing their own thing. And by doing their own thing, I mean making out. Heavily.

"You know what?" I started, completely disgusted at the public displays of affection in front of me, and got up from my seat. "Its sixth period and I don't feel like staying here any longer. I'll talk to you later."

I walked out of the cafeteria and around the corner until I was outside by my beat up old Chevy.

I put my hands on the hood of my car and rested for about a minute; letting all of the stress from the past year out in one frustrated breath.

Seriously, shoot me in face. Right between my eyes where the possibility of living and enduring brain damage are slim to none.

"Bella?"

I shrieked and spun around to find Vincent standing dangerously to me, a concerned and equally amused look on his perfect face.

I stared at him in shock, willing my erratic heartbeat to slow down to a less embarrassing pace.

"Are you okay? You looked like you wanted to hit someone when you left."

"I did want to hit someone, namely you. I mean seriously, what are you playing at? I know you were outside my window listening in on my session with your dad. And then you give me these cute little knowing winks in the hallway that make me want to gouge your eyes out and stare into them all at the same time. And _now_ you have some sort of surprise for me, which pisses me off even more seeing as how every time I see you, Lauren's hands seemed to be glued to your crotch!" _Woah, where did that come from?_ By the end of my rant, I was out of breath. I was so infuriated that all the heat had rushed to my face and my chest was heaving in a sad attempt at attaining oxygen. And what pissed me off even more, was the fact that I cared enough to be mad in the first place.

I mean seriously, I thought I was off undead creatures of the night for good.

And Vincent was just standing there, looking completely off guard for a good 5 seconds until he smirked. "You think it's cute when I wink at you?"

Seriously?

"I'm leaving." I said flatly, and opened the door to my truck, heaving myself up until I was inside.

"Wait, Bella." Vincent voiced quietly.

"Why should I?" I snapped, really just wanting to get the hell of the vicinity_. Vincentity_ was more like it.

"Why not?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Look Bella, when I'm shocked, which is not often, I tend to joke about it. According to my dad it's a defense mechanism used to block people out. I'm sorry, okay? Really."

I was skeptical, I had to admit. He sounded sincere, yet my past with vampires had led me to reconsider believing everything they told me.

"Whatever. Just don't . . . fuck with me, Vincent."

"I won't. Promise. Now about that surprise . . ." He trailed off suggestively, successfully changing the subject.

"What about it?"

"I got an apartment!"

I heard crickets.

No seriously, they were off in the very silent background doing their chirping in the way that only crickets can.

"And your point is?" I asked, not really catching his drift.

"Well, I was kind of hoping you'd stop by. You know, and check it out." He had a nervous air around him that suggested he was anxious about asking me to his place.

"And do what?" I snorted obnoxiously, "Have you fuck me into oblivion? I don't think so." On second thought . . . no, I would wait . . . at least a few more days. (Heavy on the sarcasm there.)

"It isn't like that!"

"Oh? Then what is it like?"

"I just wanted to hang out for a bit."

I looked at him for a good minute, assessing the situation from as many angles as I could, and decided that there was no good possible outcome that could come from this. No matter how good looking he was.

"Thanks, Vincent, but no thanks. Anything could end up happening at your apartment. I appreciate the offer though. Really, I'm flattered."

His face dropped for a second before regaining his composure. "Well, at least come to the park with me, it seems like we've never officially hung out with each other."

"There are reasons for that." I stated, trying really heard not to imagine the familiar way his hard marble skin would feel under my touch.

"For the love of god_, Isa_, why are you so bitter?" Vincent exclaimed, a surprising burst of anger shooting through his calm facade. His hands had rammed into my truck were I still sat, and I felt the car rumble and shake underneath my body.

For a split second, I lingered on the thought of the name Vincent had just called me. Isa. It was something I had never considered, always preferring Bella or Bells to the formal Isabella. But it was also cute and I let it stand, not correcting Vincent on his slip.

"I'm bitter because it's Valentine's Day and I'm lonely! I'm bitter because last Valentine's day, my then-boyfriend had pulled me out of school and driven me to a meadow where we'd had a romantic picnic until the sun went down. I'm bitter because a whole year has passed and yet every morning I wake up, I forget for a split second that I don't have a beautiful boyfriend who claims to love me! And I'm bitter because amongst all of the romance of today's holiday, no one has even stopped to think about how I would take this. And I know that sounds selfish but good _god_ . . . . I just don't know how I haven't slipped off the deep end by now." I had rested my head against the wheel of my truck during my little monologue, and at this point, I had revealed so much to Vincent that I didn't want to look him in the eye at the moment anyway.

But instead of speaking, Vincent opened the door and demanded that I scoot over.

"Um, what the hell are you doing?" I asked skeptically, I didn't even want to look at him, yet here he was, starting my car up.

"I'm taking you to the park." He said happily, pulling out of the school driveway and onto the road.

"Vincent, I've spilt my heart out to you twice now, and you want to take me to the park?"

"Well, my reasoning is that I've never been sad at the park. And you seem to have a mixture of negative emotions, and I really don't like seeing that little crease in the middle of your forehead, so just relax. I'm not going to hurt you. Unless you're into that kind of stuff." He finished, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking in my direction.

I smacked him lightly, knowing any full force on my part would only injure myself, and the odds of that happening are a lot higher than I would like.

"Whatever, just make sure we go directly to the park. I don't trust you enough to not kidnap me and make me your personal sex slave."

"Why, I would never!" He put his hand to his chest, feigning hurt and astonishment.

"Yeah well, I'm not so sure about that."

"Why not? We're already here."

I looked outside, and sure enough we were at the park. I had been so focused on Vincent that I hadn't noticed that we were driving at an almost painfully fast speed. Well, as painfully fast as my truck could go.

I had never been to Forks Memorial Park, even when I was little. And now that I was here, it made me realize how much of my childhood I'd spent not being a kid. How much I'd missed out on.

I mean seriously, for the dreary little town of Forks, Washington, this place looked awesome. At least from a child's point of view it would.

There was color everywhere, from the highest slide to the lowest swing set. Children were chasing each other in games of tag, hanging upside down on the monkey bars, and climbing up the jungle gym in ways that I'd never even thought possible.

"Wow," I whispered. "This place looks great; like it doesnt even belong in this drab, colorless hell."

"You are very pessimistic, you know that?" Vincent said from beside me, taking my hand and leading me over to the empty swing-set at the far end of the park.

"Yeah . . . well, I don't really have much to be happy about, do I?" I sat on the swing and looked away from Vincent, feeling the conversation taking an uncomfortable turn for the sentimental.

"Well of course you do. For one, you're alive, and not in some graveyard six feet under. Two, you have a father who loves and cares for you, not some drunk who wails on you until you're black and blue. And personally, I think you have some great friends, you just won't allow yourself to fully trust them enough to see that."

"All true, but you forget that what had once made life so great is now gone, and that the only reason I'm even here is because He told me to keep myself safe. And even if my father isn't an abusive alcoholic, he's still barely home half the time, and even when he is, we don't talk about anything; everything is tense and awkward. And great friends my ass! Jessica only sticks around because it makes her look like a great friend. Mike has been trying to get down my pants ever since the first day of school. And Lauren? Please, she's only there because Jessica is. The only two genuine people there are Angela and Ben, and they're the quiet ones!"

I had been rambling, and I noticed I had been doing more and more of that whenever I was around Vincent, which confused me because I barely even talked around anyone else. His father included.

"Bella," Vincent sighed, and I cried a little bit inside, thinking that the name Isa was retired after only one use. "I'm sorry that your life isn't perfect. I don't think that anyone's life is perfect at any given point in time, but you must hear me out. You. Are. Fucking. Awesome. Got it? You've taken this whole vampire thing in stride, and that's not many other people can say that they can do that." He came to stand in front of me; taking my hands from my lap and making me look up at him. "I would say a bunch of other stuff about how you're extremely beautiful, funny, and smart, but those wouldn't coincide with my brooding vampire image very well, so I'm just going to stick with fucking awesome. Either way, I brought you here with the intentions of leaving all of the sappy and emotional crap behind, so let's just talk about stupid and inane stuff for now. If you're up to it, of course."

I nodded my head, taking my hands out of his and putting them on the chains of the swings and swinging back and forth. When he was satisfied that I wasn't about to break down in some emotional fit of self-pity, Vincent went to his swing and swung back and forth also.

"So . . ." I started, awkwardly. "What do you want to talk about?"

His answer was instant. "Food."

"Food?"

He nodded. "Food."

"Okay, what is it about food that you want to talk about?" I said, a little intrigued and a lot confused. Vampires don't eat food. It's disgusting to them actually.

"What's your favorite?" He asked, swinging higher and higher until he actually flew over the other side of the swing-set.

Show off.

But the question was easy, and my answer came even easier.

"Mexican."

"Mexican?"

I nodded. "Mexican."

"I don't know what to say to that other than, completely random." He stated, skidding to a stop with his feet and looking over at me with light in his eyes. _His familiar, golden eyes_. I looked away, not wanting to go down that road when we had already started another subject.

"It's not, uh, completely random. I was raised in Arizona, what did you expect? And if you say Italian, I swear I will . . ." I trailed off after a raised eyebrow from Vincent, who knew just as well as I that there wasn't a damn thing I could do that would make a physical impact on him.

"What is it that you like about Mexican food? Because I, being as old as I am, was changed before I really got to explore these other different food cultures." At this point, he was trying to hold back a smile, apparently thinking that he shouldn't laugh at my humanness. In reality, he was right.

I glared at him, again not gaining any progress in the Intimidating Department. "I love the smell, the spices, and the _taste_. And it sucks because even this close to California, Forks doesn't have one decent Mexican restaurant. Taco Bell my ass."

"Ok, so the last time you had Mexican, was in Arizona?"

"Yup, it was at this place called _Arizona Mexicana_, best place to get Mexican ever. And I had my favorite: a chicken quesadilla with lettuce and a large lemonade. Gosh, Vincent, you have me salivating at the mouth right now." After I stopped speaking, I realized exactly what I'd said and blushed profusely. "Well, I didn't mean- well, see, I was talking about the food- I mean, not that you're not attractive or . . . anything. How about I just stop talking? Yeah, stop talking . . . now." I hung my head forward, my hair falling in front if my face to create a curtain barrier between Vincent and me. I hadn't looked at him since I had stuck my foot in my mouth, and really, I didn't want to.

I mean, seriously? _'Gosh, Vincent, you have me salivating at the mouth right now.'_ How much more corny porn star could one person get?

Chuckling, Vincent reached over and pushed my hair out the way, smiling at me in a surprisingly patient manner. "Isa," Mental fist pump, right there. "It's not that bad. Trust me, I've heard a lot worse, especially living in the same house with Christina and Andrew. So don't sweat it, okay?"

After that, we stayed there until dark, talking of insignificant things and laughing at corny dirty jokes.

"And then the 1st nun says, 'Dirty habit!'" As Vincent ended the punch line, he stiffened, and then smiled. Getting up from his spot on the swing, he grabbed my hand and turned us toward the direction of the forest behind us.

I didn't know what was wrong until I saw her hop out of the tree in front of me, her vampiric eyes, piercing and her smile, sardonic.

"Hello, Vincent."

* * *

**(Okay, I know how much I deserve all these rotten tomatoes thrown at me, and I know this chapter isn't as long as you guys deserve, and I know **_vampiric_** isn't a word, but hear me out:**

I SUCK**. That's all there is to it. **I suck**. **

**Maybe you can tell me how much I suck in a review? Please?**

**p.s. Anyone else run to get the Eclipse dvd? Awesome right? **

**p.p.s. I know people don't review as much as they used to, but come on! Cut us some slack!**

**-**TheSheWolf

**Don't worry everyone, I'll be sure to smack my Twin for you guys for even suggesting that this chapter sucks. Honestly, everyone, give her a round of applause. And fret not. I am starting chapter 8 ASAP! Don't forget to review and show us some love! (:**

**Lots of Love,**

ECG000)


	8. Chapter 8

**BPOV**

It was obvious from the wide, easy smile that spread across Vincent's face that he knew this mystery woman. Mystery _vampire _woman, I added mentally.

You would think that after all my time spent around immortals, I would be somewhat immune to their perfect features. That my mouth wouldn't flood with the bitter taste of envy, that my ego and self-confidence wouldn't take a giant bruise every time I came across a vampire.

You would be wrong.

The woman started toward us slowly, taking her time, swinging her hips at exactly the right moment to make her walk appear to be a dance. The clouds were thinning out and a few stray rays of sun were breaking through- not enough to cause the fantastic glitter that full blown sunlight created, but enough to make her normal, ghostly pale pallor to look like it was glowing from within. She was blonde- strawberry blonde. To be blunt, she was utterly flawless; a Greek goddess striding to meet her escort. And from the set of her lips and the way she held herself, you could tell that she thought so, too.

She came to a stop in front of our swing set, and Vincent spoke.

"Tanya. Always a pleasure seeing you." his tone was strangely formal, not at all like the way he spoke to me or his family.

"Likewise." Tanya replied. Her voice reminded me of caramel dripping off of a spoon. I stayed silent and completely still next to Vincent. I wasn't going to introduce myself- I was too afraid my voice would crack, or I would stutter, or something else to make me seem like a stupid, insignificant human. Which I was, but there was no need for her to know that. So I chose to remain invisible.

"What are you doing so far South?"Vincent asked conversationally.

"Oh, my sisters were getting on my nerves. I had to get away for a while. I'm sure you know the feeling?" She gave a half smile and arched a perfect blonde brow. Vincent grinned, showing all of his brilliant teeth.

"Yes," he replied, "I know that particular feeling quite well."

As they continued on in their conversation, I briefly wondered if I was the only one who thought that Tanya was a bit weird. I mean, where I'm from, listening in on other people's conversations while hiding in trees was considered odd, and just a bit rude.

But hey, what do I know? Maybe vampires are into that sort of thing.

So far, neither of them had acknowledged my presence, for which I was glad. I just had to wait a while longer until Tanya left, and Vincent and I could get back to our conver-

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Vinny?" Tanya asked in an innocent, almost baby-ish voice, effectively ruining that plan. I glanced up from the ground and she turned her piercing, golden gaze on me. I'm ashamed to admit that I actually cowered beneath her fiery glare. "I don't believe we've met before." she continued in that same tone. I wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like she was mocking me.

I also took notice that she called him 'Vinny,' a name I had only ever heard his family use. Her using of the name only meant one thing to me: they were close.

"Forgive me, I've been terribly rude. Tanya, this is Bella Swan. She's a friend of mine. Bella, this is Tanya Denali. She and her sisters live up in Alaska. They're old family friends."

As I smiled shyly in greeting, I couldn't help but be grateful that he hadn't mentioned to her that I was his father's patient. I already felt inferior in her presence, no need to throw in the fact that I needed a therapist to keep myself from falling off the deep end.

"So you're the infamous Bella Swan." Tanya repeated my name slowly, cocking her head to one side.

"Infamous?" Vincent repeated before I could speak. My face flushed.

"Oh yes," Tanya continued. I watched her eyes sweep over my less than curvacious body and ill-fitting jeans, and I swear she smirked. "Weren't you a friend of the Cullens?" She smiled cruelly, obviously enjoying my slight cringe at the name. "My, my, how wonderful it is to finally meet the human that has put our race through so much trouble. You were somewhat of a pet to Edward, no?"

I took a steeling breath and ignored the painful squeeze of my heart. Clearly, she enjoyed my discomfort and I wasn't about to give her that satisfaction.

"I guess so." I said in a low murmur. I had meant for my voice to come across as strong and steady, but failed miserably. Tanya kept on, enjoying herself.

"_Guess so?_ Oh, from what I heard, it was no guessing game. Edward had fallen for a human." She said 'human' the same way one would say 'hermaphrodite.' "Which wasn't completely surprising. Edward was always such a softie for lesser beings." She finished with a dramatic sigh.

"Yeah, well, from what I've heard, so are you." Vincent stepped in on my behalf, his voice full of disgust.

Tanya got defensive. "That's different." she snapped, "You know there's nothing to do up in that barren wasteland. Or rather, any_one_ to do." she gave a girlish laugh.

My eyes were following them like a tennis match; going back and forth while each of them took jabs at each other. The ball was in Vincent's court.

Instead of responding, he shook his head and took my hand, steering me towards the parking lot. "It was nice talking to you, Tanya."

"Was it something I said?" she called, her voice a perfect mixture of innocence and offense. I silently begged Vincent to keep walking, trying to will him to not turn back. But he stopped, and turned to face her. Tanya was standing with her hand on her chest, looking as though she could burst into tears at any moment. Vincent glanced at me sideways. Her eye's narrowed at this, and acted as though suddenly it had all clicked for her.

"Oh, don't tell me. Are we a bit sensitive about the breakup?" she feigned sympathy. "Completely understandable." She said to me, her golden eyes full of fake concern.

_Golden eyes._ So she was a vegetarian, too. For a split second I lingered on that, wondering exactly how many vampires there were in the world that had the compassion it took to take on that civil feeding habit.

"Of course, _that _situation could have been avoided entirely." she continued, oblivious to my reverie. "If only Edward had taken me when I offered. I'm sure he regrets rejecting me now." she chuckled darkly.

"Oh, I'm sure." I muttered under my breath, my voice dripping with sarcasm, rolling my eyes.

"What was that?" she snapped, planting a hand on her hip and jutting her neck forward, making her thick hair sway and ripple over her shoulders. Again her eyes narrowed, and her perfect lips curled into a sneer.

"Tanya." Vincent warned in a low voice. He stepped forward and to the left, subtly taking on a painfully familiar protective stance before me.

"Vincent, please. You aren't seriously defending her? She's just a human." She snorted, disbelief clouding her features. Okay... maybe I was wrong about the whole 'compassion' thing.

"I am. And I think it's time for you to leave."

Tanya scoffed at him, like she was waiting for the punchline. Vincent made a gesture towards the trees she had come from, and the message was clear: _You can go now._

"You know what? I will go. Maybe I'll give Edward a call when I get home." She looked only at me when she said this. I held my head high, even though the hole was burning a little more than usual in my chest.

With that, she gave a flip of her blonde hair that would have made Christina proud, turned on her heel, and stalked into the shadow of the dense trees.

Vincent came to stand beside me once again, watching her retreating figure. He leaned down and put his lips to my ear, and as he spoke, his cool breath rose goosebumps along the back of my neck

"If she continues to twitch like that when she walks, she's going to break something." he murmured, a smile in his voice. I glanced up at him, arching one brow.

"Twitches?" I repeated in question.

"Yeah. Twitch. You know..." he turned and began walking, jutting his hips out with each step, over exaggerating the movement. He paused, struck a supermodel-esque pose with the most ridiculous smile on his face, and flamboyantly tossed invisible hair over one shoulder. Laughter bubbled to my lips as he walked back to me in the same fashion. "Like that." I laughed again.

"I think it was more of a swish, than a twitch." I said around my giggles.

"From here, it looked like a twitch." he argued, winking at me and putting an arm around my shoulders. I looked up and returned the wink, smiling at his successful attempt to lighten the mood.

His cheerful expression faded and he placed a hand over his mouth, the way people did in movies right after something horrible happens.

"What is it?" I asked, hearing the panic in my voice.

"The twitch." he said gravely, slowly raising a finger to point at the eye that I had used to wink. "It's contagious!"

I rolled my eyes and playfully smacked his hand away from my face, blushing furiously at my pitiful attempt to flirt. _Wait. Is that what I'm doing? Flirting? _

As we made our way back to the truck, I peeked at Vinny shyly.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked, grinning. His butterscotch eyes sparkled, and his skin was as luminous as Tanya's had been. My breath was briefly taken away by his beauty, and I couldn't help but stare a little.

I recovered quickly, remembering that he had asked me a question and that I might have been drooling a little.

"No," I answered. "I was just thinking... thanks. You know, for standing up for me." his grin stretched into a full blown smile.

"No problem, Isa." he said, and my heart jumped at the name. I loved it when he called me that.

We were at the truck, and he held the passenger door open for me. I rose an eyebrow.

"No arguments, I'm driving." he said before I could open my mouth to object. I mentally debated my chances of winning that particular fight, should I choose to pursue it, and I had to admit that my chances were slim. He would get his way, in the end.

I sighed and got in the truck, buckling my seat belt and getting comfortable while he climbed in the drivers seat and started the engine.

As we backed out of the lot, I saw Vincent's hand reach out absently towards the gaping hole in the dashboard, where my radio used to be. He frowned at the emptiness.

"No radio?" he looked at me, disappointment in his voice.

"Um, no." I shook my head. He ran his long, pale fingers over the rough edges of the hole, fiddling with some of the wayward wires that hadn't completely come loose the first time.

"Could you please watch the road?" I blurted. "You just ran that red light."

He chucked. "It's only illegal if you get caught. And besides, I don't need to watch the road the way you do. I've got the reflexes of a ninja." I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a three-year-old.

"Sure. Pick on the clumsy human" I rolled my eyes. "Original."

He laughed, and we resumed our drive in silence. After a while, he spoke again.

"Bella, are you in any hurry to go home just yet?"

I thought for a moment. "I guess not. Why?"

"I want to show you something." he said, looking at me. I met his eyes.

"Further explanation?" I asked.

"Nope. It's a surprise." he grinned lopsidedly.

"Well alright then." I said. "Just watch the road."

Now Vincent rolled his eyes. "A little faith, please, Isa." he muttered, but returned attention to the highway.

Soon, we were on a familiar winding road, weaving through a twisting path while towering trees surrounded us on both sides.

My quick, sudden intake of breath must have reached Vincent's ears over the roar of my engine, though I could barely hear it myself.

"Something wrong?" he asked, concerned when he took in my expression.

"We're... we're going to your house?" I spoke quietly. He nodded slowly, not getting it. And then I remembered- he hadn't been there the last time I had been at his house. He had been in the forest and hadn't heard my reaction.

"It's just... I haven't been to their- I mean _your_ house in so long, and the last time I … well, um, you know, and,,, I'm sure I'll be fine, but I just- it just sort of took me by surprise and I'll stop now. Yeah. You can stop staring at me like that. I'm done." I mashed my lips together to prevent anymore ridiculous outbursts. Vincent's golden eyes didn't move from my face.

"Would you rather I take you home, Bella?" he asked gently. "I can drive you back. It would be no problem."

"No, no." I answered quickly. "I'll be fine. Just... give me a warning next time, alright?" My attempt at nonchalance was almost as pitiful as my winking, but Vincent drove on.

"If you're sure..." he murmured, and took a sharp left into the drive.

He must have heard my heartbeat accelerate, because he took my hand wordlessly and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

The elegant white house came into view a lot sooner than I remembered. But with Vincent, holding my hand, filling the small cab with his soothing, otherworldly scent, it didn't hurt as much as it had the first time. Sure, the stupid hole in my chest flared a little around the edges, but it was nothing I couldnt handle.

I looked at Vincent and grinned, feeling a little triumphant. He smiled back at me, parked in front of the garage, and cut the engine.

Before my seat belt was undone, he was holding the door open for me, and shutting it behind me when I stepped outside.

Suddenly Benita was there, and before either of us could utter a greeting, she had her thin arms wrapped around Vincent.

"Vinny! Goodness dear, it's been far far _far_ too long. I thought you promised to visit? Or was that just talk?" she rushed out, releasing Vincent so she could place her hands on her hips and glare at him.

"It's been three days."

"I know, but the house... it just feels so empty without you, dear. We all miss you terribly."

And then Andrew was there, leaning against the garage door with his arms folded across his chest, exuding 'super-hot-tough-guy' vibes.

"No, we don't." Andrew insisted. Benita stopped glaring at Vincent long enough to throw a scowl at Andrew. "What? We _don't_." he repeated. "Oh, hi, Bella."

Benita turned to me, and a smile replaced her scowl, lighting up her lovely face.

"And you brought company. It's good to see you again, Bella, honey." she came right up to me and embraced me just as fiercely.

"You too, Benita." I said, smiling over her shoulder at Vincent, who was gazing at me with an amused, slightly apologetic expression.

Christina suddenly appeared, poised next to Andrew. He snaked an arm around her waist and she leaned into his embrace as naturally as I breathed in and out. I tried not to gag at the love waves that practically emanated off of their skin.

She completely ignored my presence, not even bothering to give me her usual glare-sneer-eye-roll routine before she looked at her twin brother.

"So have you decided to stop being an melodramatic girl and come back home, or do Andrew and I get the room with a better view?" Christina asked sardonically. Benita released me so that she could gaze at Vincent pleadingly. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No. I'm sorry Benita, but I'm staying at my apartment." he said, throwing her and apologetic glance. Her expression fell a bit, but she gave him a small smile anyways and patted his cheek affectionately.

"That's alright, dear. I understand." she said quietly. "Well, I'm heading back inside. Flowers don't water themselves. It was nice seeing you, Bella." She waved goodbye, and walked back around the house.

Vincent sighed again, but turned around and grinned at me. "There actually _was_ a point to bringing you here. You know, besides breaking poor Benita's heart." he said, winking. I knew better than to wink back.

"Chrissy? Andrew? You guys in the mood for a little rock session?"Andrew responded with an ecstatic woop and an 'Aw, yeah!' while Christina simply smiled coyly, a secret sparkle lighting up her eyes. Vincent nodded, as if to say, 'I thought you would be.'

"You're going to love this." he said to me. I just nodded like I knew what was going on and followed the three vampires into the garage without questioning it.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, I took in tons and tons of music equipment and instruments that I hadn't noticed before lined up against the walls.

"Wow." I said, impressed. Four guitars stood on stands along the far wall, surrounded by amplifiers and microphones. In one corner was a cobalt blue drum set, and in the other were two bass' and a keyboard.

"What _is_ all this?"

"Well," Christina began in a mocking tone, "this is called a _guitar. _And those? They're _drums._ And in that corner? It's called a _keyboard._" She spoke slowly and deliberately, the way you would to someone foreign to English. Rolling her eyes, she picked up a shocking red electric guitar and secured the strap around her shoulders.

"Back off," Vincent snapped. "Not everyone is as wonderfully brilliant as you are. And besides, I haven't _told_ her yet."

"Told me what?" I asked, looking from Christina to him.

"You'll see. But, could you go plug those amps in over there?" he motioned towards the far wall as he picked up a basic, black bass and fiddled with the tuning knobs. As I made my way towards the amps, I tried to tune out Christina and Vincent, who were back to bickering. Crouching before the mess of cords, I attempted to put one of them in an outlet, but the prongs didn't seem to want to fit.

"Vincent, it wont fit in the holes." I called, struggling with the cord some more.

"Ha. That's what she said." Andrew cackled from behind the drum set. Vincent and Christina both rolled their eyes.

"You have to kind of shove it in, Bella. Really work it."

"_That's what she said!"_ Andrew guffawed, throwing his head back, his laughter bouncing around the small room.

Just as I was about to give up and ask for help, the prongs slid inside the outlet with a soft click.

"I got it in!" I said happily, standing.

"That's what she said." Andrew muttered, still giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Great, thanks." Vincent smiled, ignoring Andrew. He pulled a bar stool out from the corner near the bass', and placed it in the mouth of the garage, so that it was just in the setting sunlight.

"Take a seat, Bella. But beware- it's about to get pretty loud in here."

As the three vampires each took a place in the garage- Vincent front and to the left; Christina, far right corner; Andrew, back of the room, center, behind the drum set- my curiosity peaked.

"So you guys have got some sort of vampire garage band thing going?" I asked.

"Very good! She _can_ be taught." Christina mocked enthusiasm.

"_Cover_ band. We haven't really tried anything of our own yet." Vincent corrected, ignoring his sister.

"_Not_ that that takes away from our overall kickass sound." Andrew called from behind his drums, peeking his head around a symbol so he could grin at me.

"Yes, yes, we're fabulous. Just plug in the mics, Vinny- Jersey Shore starts in an hour, and I don't want to miss it." Christina ordered, fingering some chord on her guitar until they were tuned to her liking. With yet another eye roll, Vincent obliged.

"Test 1, test 2, test 3." he spoke clearly into the microphone in front of him, then gave his bass a few strums to be sure the amp worked. The sound echoed through the garage, and a satisfied smiled spread across his face.

"One, two, three." Christina voiced into her mic, and gave a sharp pluck to each of her strings.

"Ready guys?" Andrew called.

"I'm fuckin' _ready!_" Vincent shouted enthusiastically.

"Christina?"

"I'm ready." she purred, her lips practically molesting the microphone.

Andrew held his drumsticks in the air, called out the typical 'Two, three, four!' in time with the tapping of his sticks, and they were off.

The electric guitar/bass combination reminded me of angry boy rock, but when the drums kicked in and Christina really began to work her guitar, it sounded new-age-y and cool. And when Vincent started singing, it turned into something totally amazing.

_This is the death of me- I feel it constantly.  
__Just like an enemy that wants to see me bleed.  
__So I try to be silent, but my words, they explode like hand grenades.  
__I've just got to stay calm before I let this time bomb blow up in my face._

_These issues pin me to the floor.  
__These issues are my overlord.  
__I feel so dominated.  
__These issues- they choke me like a noose._

I was in awe- who knew that a group of perpetual teens would make such great music? As they brought around the second verse, I found myself wondering what the original band that wrote the song sounded like, and couldn't help but think that Vincent, Christina, and Andrew probably sounded better.

_The hounds of hell, they cry- that's how they get to me.  
__Inject my head with lies- the pain's astonishing.  
__Like a brick or a stone, slowly crushing my bones, sending me to my grave.  
__It's such a fake, this life that I've made- I'm going insane._

They sang the chorus again, and then Christina moved to stand front and center. When the chorus ended, her fingers began to fly over the strings in ways that I didn't think were possible. It was worthy of an MTV Award. My jaw fell to the gravel, and as her fingers continued to maneuver over the chords, I found that I was just a bit intimidated, and totally amazed.

The song ended after one more chorus, with all three McKenzie's grinning at one of another,

"That was amazing!" I blurted when the amp feedback stopped.

"I'm glad you liked it." Vincent beamed. Even Christina smiled at me- well, it wasn't so much a smile as it _wasn't_ a scowl.

"I did." I nodded my head. "You guys are really good."

"Thanks!" Andrew called from behind his drums. "I really carry the weight of this band."

"Andrew, you carry the weight of this band about as much as a fat kid eats vegetables." Vincent muttered, looking up at the darkening sky, then glancing at his chrome watch.

"I'd better get you home," he said to me, fishing my keys out of his back pocket.

"I can drive myself. I'm a big girl." I argued, reaching for my keys. He pulled them just out of my reach, dropping them back into his pocket. I rose an eyebrow, challenging him.

"You're welcome to come and get them, Isa." he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Encouraged to, in fact."

"Ew." Christina muttered, rolling her eyes while unhooking her guitar strap and replacing the guitar on it's stand.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Vincent, and take me home." I ordered, stepping around him so I could get in the truck.

"_Rejected!_" Andrew yelled, his booming laughter echoing around us as he cracked up. "That's happened, what? Twice in your entire life?"

"Three times, by my count." Christina called.

"Humbling, isn't it, Vinny?" Andrew chortled, slapping him on the back.

"Andrew?" Vincent said, shaking his hand off of his back.

"Yes?"

"Shut the fuck up."

I smirked, threw open my door, and hopped in the cab.

"Bella, wait!" Dr. McKenzie's voice emanated from inside the house. The door that led inside the house opened and he stepped outside.

"Yes, Doctor Mck- er, Steven?" I corrected myself mid-sentence, leaning my head out of my open window.

"I just wanted to remind you that our next session is on Sunday." He said, eying Vincent carefully. I noticed that he hadn't greeted Vincent the way Benita had, and wondered briefly about that.

"Oh, yeah. Okay. Sunday. Sure. Got it." I was rambling.

"Okay, see you then." he smiled warmly.

"Um, see you." I said brilliantly, sure that I was impressing everyone immensely with my fantastic wit. Before he turned to go inside he looked at his son and opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. At the last second he caught himself, shut his mouth, and walked inside without another word. I watched Vincent watch Steven go into the house, and saw him muttering under his breath and shaking his head disapprovingly.

"See you at school tomorrow, Bella." Andrew said, waving.

"Okay." I smiled. I didn't expect a goodbye from Christina.

Vincent got in the truck, still grumbling unintelligibly. He nodded goodbye to his siblings, and started the engine wordlessly.

I waited until we were driving, as fast as my poor truck would allow, on the main road before I asked.

"Something going on with you and your dad?"

"Not a thing." he replied, much to quickly.

"Vincent."

"Bella." he retorted, mocking the 'I-so-don't-belive-that' tone I'd used.

I glared at the side of his face while he, for once, watched the road.

"Let me get this straight. You can eavesdrop on my private, soul bearing, move-you-to-tears therapy session, but I cant ask a single personal question? How is that fair?"

Vincent chuckled. "You've got a temper. Do you know that?"

"So I've heard." I snapped. "I just don't like double standards."

He nodded his head slowly and pursed his lips, contemplating.

"My dad and I had a bit of a fallout. There was yelling, some insults were thrown around, and I left. That was last week." he said finally. "We haven't spoken since."

"That's why you got your apartment." I said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. That's why I got my apartment." he confirmed.

"What was the fight about?" I pressed. He let out on humorless laugh.

"You really want to know?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and watching me out of the corner of his eye.

"I do." I answered. He hesitated.

"You."

I was silent for a moment. "Me?"

"You."

"How could I possibly have caused a fight between you and your father?" I demanded. Vincent sighed, running his fingers though his hair.

"You didn't." he said. I waited for further explanation. "He was pissed that I listened in on your session that day."

"Ah." I nodded.

"Yeah."

"So you... left? Why? Was it really that bad of an argument? Surely it wasn't your first. Why was this the breaking point?"

Vincent laughed again, but it sounded forced. "You've been spending too much time around my dad."

"Are you avoiding my question?"

"Yes." he answered. I narrows my eyes at him. He ignored my glare and cut the engine.

"Why'd you stop the car?" I asked.

"You live here, don't you?" he gestured outside. I looked out of the window and was surprised to find that I was home, but I made no move to get out. I just stared at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked.

"Tell me."

"Isa." he sounded exasperated.

"Don't you '_Isa'_ me. _You _brought me into it. So spill."

He sighed. "I am two hundred and nine years old, Bella. And I've never once lived on my own, or fended for myself. I've never even had a job or any of that right of passage shit. I was tired of relying on my father." His speech sounded scripted, like he had practiced it before. I was silent while I processed this.

"You know what I think?" I said finally. "I think you were just tired of the 'My house, my rules' line, so you got your own house so you could make your own rules. This isn't about you fending for yourself. This is you proving a point."

He just stared at me for a long minute, then burst out laughing.

"What? Are you denying it?" I asked over his laughter.

"Not at all."he answered around his chuckles. "You see right through me."

I grinned smugly.

"Now," he continued, his laughter dying down until he was merely grinning mischievously, "As much as I would love to sit in a parked car with you-"

"_Goodnight,_ Vincent." I rolled my eyes, throwing open the door and stepping out into the cool night, shutting the door behind me.

"Isa?" he called. I turned around on my heel and saw his hand hanging out of the driver's window, my key ring dangling from his middle finger. I reached for them, and he caught my hand, bringing me closer.

"See you in the morning." he breathed, his golden eyes smoldering in the dark.

"Kay." I managed, and he released me. My head spun, but when I recovered, I realized that he had no car to drive himself home. "How are you getting home?" I asked as he stepped out of the truck.

"I think I'll walk." he smiled, his teeth gleaming in the night,

"Oh. Um, alright then. G'night, I guess." I said, mentally kicking myself for not being able to manage a simple statement.

"Sweet dreams." he murmured, and then he was gone.

When I woke up the next morning, it took me a few moments before I realized why I felt so well-rested.

I hadn't dreamed last night.

As that sunk in, I told myself not to get too comfortable. Surely, the dreams would return, and it would only hurt more if I didn't expect them. The happiness and sanity I felt around Vincent and his family couldn't possibly keep the nightmares at bay forever.

But, I had to admit, it felt nice to be fully alert and coherent after an entire night's sleep. I even took the time o blow dry my hair straight and rub ginger-scented lotion into my skin.

Vincent was leaning against his car, which was parked right next to my usual spot, when I got to school. I smiled at him as I cut the engine and stepped out of the truck, but he was frowning anf wrinkling his nose as though he'd smelled something bad.

"What's with that face?" I crinkled my brow. He grabbed my wrist without responding and lifted my arm to his face, pressing his nose into the crease at my elbow.

"Did you spray something?" he asked, his frown deepening.

"What? No. Can I have my arm back?"

He sniffed again, a long, deep pull this time, ignoring my request as he kept a tight grip on my wrist.

"Lotion? Scented lotion?" he pressed. "Is that what you used?"

"Oh, yeah. I put on a little lotion. Why? It's just ginger." I pulled my arm back, blushing, and he released me.

"No offense, but... it smells like shit." he answered, and we began to walk to class.

"Thanks so much." I rolled my eyes.

"Just being honest. But for the record, you don't need any of that. Your smell alone... it's wonderful. Almost mouthwatering." he grinned, keeping his voice a low purr so that passerby couldn't hear. I looked away- this conversation was a bit too familiar.

"You know," I said as the tardy bell rang, "You're not the first person to tell me that."

After 5 hours of staring at the clock, finally, it was lunch time. I made my way to the library slowly, ducking behind taller people and praying I wouldn't be seen by-

"Bella!" I deep, familiar voice boomed.

"Damn." I muttered as Vincent weaved through the hungry student body, towards where I was standing.

"I was hoping I could catch you before you got to your cave." he said when he reached me, gesturing to the media center. "Come on- you're eating lunch with us."

"Vincent-"

"No, no, no. I was up _all night_ last night putting together this surprise for you. You're going to the cafeteria, if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming." He interrupted, steering me towards the huge double doors.

"All night, huh?" I asked, allowing him to guide me. I had learned that I needed to pick my battles with this vampire, and this one wasn't worth it.

"Yup. Didn't catch a wink of sleep. Now come on, let's not wait for the moss to grow."

He walked behind me with his hands on my shoulders, pushing me through the crowd until we reached his table.

"You got her!" Andrew crowed, a grin lighting up his face as several heads turned in my direction. I just avoided eye contact with any of the other students and tried not to blush.

"I hope this whole 'kidnap-Bella-and-drag-her-to-the-cafeteria-then-announce-it-embarassingly-loud-thing' isn't going to become a daily routine." I said as I took a seat.

"Of course not. What a ridiculous assumption." Vincent scoffed, sitting next to me.

"It's going to become a Monday through Friday thing." Andrew chimed, and Vincent reached across the table to high five his brother.

"Well said, my man." Vincent smiled as they slapped hands.

I rolled my eyes again. "Okay, you got me here. What's the surprise?"

"Ah, yes." Vincent said, reaching under the table. He pulled out a red and black lunch sack, the expensive kind, the kind with those thermal insulators for keeping food hot or cold. He handed it to me along with a bottle of lemonade. I arched an eyebrow.

"Open it." he grinned, his eyes sparkling. I noticed that they were brighter than usual, a sure product of a hunting trip. I peeled the velcro flap and reached inside to find a small Tupperware container. I took off the lid as I set the bag aside and almost screamed when I saw the contents.

"It's Arizona Mexicana! The quessodillas! _How_ did you get these?" I squealed, for probably the first time in my life, and took a deep sniff. My mouth flooded with saliva.

"I called the restaurant- apparently, they have a website. I asked for the recipe, and after about fifteen attempts I finally got them to look like they do in the picture. They're probably not as good as Miguel's- that's the cook's name- but I tried." Vincent shrugged, like it was no big deal, like he just bought me cafeteria pizza other than this amazing meal. I picked up a triangle and took a bite, and the flavor of cheese, hot peppers, and crispy tortilla exploded in my mouth. I repressed the urge to moan aloud.

"Vincent, these are amazing. Just as good as Miguel's." I gushed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." he turned his perfect smile on me, and I was momentarily stunned.

I finished up my meal and was sipping my lemonade when the conversation was again directed towards me.

"So, Bella," Vincent started, "Are you sure you don't want to take me up on my offer?"

I swallowed my drink. "And what offer would that be?"

"To come to my apartment."

Silence fell over the table as the question, and all it's hidden meanings, hung in the air.

"I, um. Well. I'm sort of busy this weekend."

This didn't even phase him.

"Really?"

"Really." I insisted. "Saturday I've got to work, and um, Sunday I've got a session with your father." A mischievous grin spread across Vincent's face.

"You know, Bella, I have yet to see the side of you that needs therapy. You seem perfectly normal to me." His finger drew patterns on the table, as he spoke. I didn't really know what to say to that. I mean, sure, Vincent had only seen the good side of me. But still, a few hours of sanity around him hardly pronounced me cured of... chronic depression or whatever. It was true, that when I was around Vincent and his family, I was better. Not completely, of course. They certainly couldn't make the hole go away. But they did make it hurt less, sort of like a Band-Aid- they slowed the bleeding, but couldn't heal the wound.

I wouldn't kid myself or anyone else by saying I was back to normal, because I knew I wasn't. But I was on my way. Maybe it was because they were vampires. Maybe it was because they were 'vegetarians.' Maybe it was because they so reminded me of the family that had previously lived in the house they now currently inhabited. Or maybe it had nothing to do with any of those factors. But whatever it was, it was clear that these sessions were helping me, and no way in hell was I stopping them now.

"Regardless," I said finally, when I realized that Vincent was waiting for a response, "I'm still not going to your apartment this weekend."

"Twice in less than twenty-four hours. Damn, Vinny. Do you want some ice for that burn?" Andrew chuckled. Vincent just held my gaze, a coy smile playing at the edge of his lips.

Just then the bell rang, and though I could barely hear it, I was almost positive that he muttered, "Soon enough, Isa."

I was pondering what I was going to make Charlie for dinner when Vincent caught up to me at the end of the day.

"At least let me give you a ride home." he said, trotting along beside me with a stupid grin on his face. I sighed. Seriously? What was with this kid?

"Vincent, is this some kind of game to you? Are you trying to break some record? See how quickly you can take the poor, innocent human's virtue?" I glanced up to see his expression, and he appeared mildly offended. Then again, I knew how good vampires were at hiding their emotions.

"I happen to _like_ hanging out with you, Isa. Is that so hard to believe?" he paused. "Don't answer that. But anyways, how about that ride?"

I ignored the innuendo.

"If you drive me home, I'd have to leave my truck here. Then, I'd have no way to get to school tomorrow." I grinned smugly. My logic was watertight. Or so I thought.

"You're right. If only there was someone to pick you up in the morning. Someone with a never ending supply of gas money, who just happens to live ten minutes away from your house, and has to drive passed it every day on his morning commute."

I arched an eyebrow and stopped walking. He too paused, and looked at me expectantly.

"You live ten minutes away from my house?"

"Yes."

"I don't know what worries me more. That you picked a location so close to me, or that you actually took the time to measure how long it takes you to get to my home." Vincent just shrugged.

"You... are a strange man." I continued to walk towards the parking lot, and Vincent followed without missing a beat.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes, Vincent. You can give me a ride home today." I said finally, repressing yet another sigh.

"Cool."

He led me to his car, and held the door open for me. As I slid inside, I pondered my strange ability to attract undead creatures of the night.

Once the car was started, Vincent cranked up the radio. I recognized the song playing as the one he, Andrew and Christina had covered the night before. As the chorus came around, I sang along.

_These issues pin me to the floor.  
__These issues are my overlord.  
__I feel so dominated.  
__These issues-_

Vincent cut the music and stared at me head on, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Watch the road!" I exclaimed when I saw that he was going seventy. He ignored my request and continued staring at me, but the needle inched toward sixty.

"Isabella Swan." he pronounced my name slowly and carefully.

"What?" I asked impatiently, wishing he would avert his gaze. His scrutiny was making me self-conscious.

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?" he demanded. "Isa... you have _got_ to join our band."

**(A/N): We're back, folks, and better than ever! I would just like to thank everyone for waiting ever so patiently. I know it's been, like, a billion years since our last update. Unfortunately, my Twin is unable to provide a personal Author's Note, so on her behalf I'll just say that she sends her love, and thanks to everyone for waiting as well. Also, here's a shout out to the afor mentioned absentee- Thanks for all your help, Twin! I couldn't have done it without you. (Yes, I say that every time, but I mean it! I really do.) Anyways, you all know the drill- Review, review, review. We always love to hear what you have to say.  
Thanks, gracias, merci, all of that!  
****With love,  
****ECG000 and TheSheWolf.**


	9. Chapter 9

_Last time on ITLTA: _

_Vincent cut the music and stared at me head on, his eyes wide with excitement._

_"Watch the road!" I exclaimed when I saw that he was going seventy. He ignored my request and continued staring at me, but the needle inched toward sixty._

_"Isabella Swan." he pronounced my name slowly and carefully._

_"What?" I asked impatiently, wishing he would avert his gaze. His scrutiny was making me self-conscious._

_"Why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?" he demanded. "Isa... you have got to join our band."_

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack."

"Pssh, no."

"No?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why no?"

"Because I said no. That's why not. End of discussion."

"But Isa- "

"Don't you 'But Isa' me! The answer is no and my decision is final."

"But if you would just-"

"No."

"Why won't you even consider-"

"No."

"I'll even-"

"No."

"I was just going to ask if you liked guacamole."

"No you weren't."

"Why won't you join our band?"

"Because I don't want to."

Vincent wasn't giving up, and I could tell that my many refusals were only scratching the surface with him.

"That's not a legitimate reason."

"Maybe not to you."

"Or to anyone else for that matter."

"Well I'm not anyone. I'm Bella. Now if you will excuse me, it's getting late. And I still haven't made Charlie's dinner. Goodnight Vincent, and thank you for the ride home." I hopped out of the truck and waved goodbye over my shoulder as I walked up the stairway to my house.

Once I was inside, I headed straight to the kitchen only to find that was a box of pepperoni pizza sitting on the counter. Well, not a whole box; there were only two slices left, but at least I didn't have to cook.

As soon as the thought entered my head, my phone dinged, alerting me to the fact that I had a text message.

_Btw, I kno ur dad ordered pizza. Gud try tho. C u skool 2moro :) -VinnyIsTheMaaan_

_You text like a seventh grader. And how did you get my number?_

_I has skillz -VinnyIsTheMaaan_

_Your signature is lame._

_Join da band nd I'll change it. -VinnyIsTheMaaan_

_No._

_Fine den. - VinnyIsTheMaaan + BellaIsLame_

_That is not your signature._

_I kno. Bt I thot it was pretty kewl. -VinnyIsTheMaan_

_It's not._

_Join da band. -VinnyIsTheMaaan_

I rolled my eyes and threw my phone on the bed. This whole thing just felt so redundant. I mean, it's not like I could actually sing... and do it well for that matter, but he wanted me to be the lead- the fucking front man- for a band.

Yeah. Fucking right.

I did what was remaining of my homework, took a shower and got ready for bed.

_Hopefully this whole thing will blow over by tomorrow,_ I thought to myself before I drifted to sleep.

"_I've missed this, Bella," he whispered, his sweet breath washing over my face. "Missed you. You have no idea-"_

"_Shh," I stopped him gently, placing my hands on either side of his perfect, marble face. My thumbs traced over his lips, his cheeks, the violet circles around his eyes. "Don't. Don't talk about the past. You're here now... with me. That's all that matters, Edward."_

_We were standing in a meadow. Our meadow. Violets and daisies bloomed all around us, adding random splashes of color to the swaying, knee high grass. A light breeze swirled around us, lifting my hair and fanning it around the both of us like a curtain. The sun was shining, turning his skin into a thousand diamonds._

_His fingers braided into my hair and I pressed myself impossibly closer to his icy body. Holding my gaze, he tilted my head back and brushed his lips across mine._

_My blood boiled, air bubbled to my lips. I gasped erratically and pulled his face down to mine, crushing our mouths together. A low growl was rumbling deep in his chest; I could feel it reverberating through my own body. I allowed my body to become tangled within his, and soon I was unable to even recall my own name..._

_After a long moment he pulled away, and then kissed me again with a passion I had never experienced before. This went on for a few moments, and soon I was gasping and weak in the knees. My head spun; I needed air- as much as it hurt to wrench my mouth away, I knew it was either that or I would pass out._

_While I caught my breath he moved his lips down to my jaw. His mouth was especially cool on my flushed throat. I could feel the points of his canines graze the sensitive skin there, and shivered. _

_I met his lips once again and we kissed for what seemed like an eternity. As I reached up to put my arms around his neck, I felt something shift. His shoulders were rising, broadening; I could feel bigger, thicker muscles roping themselves over his back and neck beneath my fingers. His hands, placed at the small of my back, grew larger and gripped me tighter. I paused and smiled, my lips lingering on his, and opened my eyes. _

_His hair was longer, stopping just above his eye brows. Gone were the messy bronze locks, and in their place stood a shining blonde head of hair. He grinned boyishly down at me, tracing the features of my face with the tips of his cool fingers._

"_Isa," he whispered, ducking his head so that our noses barely touched. His lips brushed mine once, twice, a third time._

"_Vincent," I breathed, smiling against his mouth. I placed my hands on his chest, gripped a fistful of his thin black T-shirt, and pulled him down hard against me._

I awoke, blushing, to the sound of my alarm clock blaring in my ear. As the noise echoed throughout my otherwise empty room, I allowed myself a short contemplation of the dream I'd just had.

_What the hell was that? _I mean, I'd had fantasies about Edward when I was awake, so sleeping was no exception either, but Vincent? Yeah, he was highly attractive in a bad boy, underwear model kind of way... if you were into that kind of thing... which I wasn't.

I think.

In any case, I needed to focus on getting ready for school, so I got up and proceeded to go through my morning routine.

Jeans? Check.

T-shirt with witty saying? Check.

Hoodie? Check.

Shoes? Check.

Makeup? ...

Nah, sorry not feeling it.

Just as I was heading down the stairs, I heard the blaring of a car horn outside of my house.

"Bells, there's a boy in an…. _Escalade_ outside waiting for you!" my dad yelled.

"Oh yeah?" I called, rounding the corner to the kitchen to find my dad peeking out the window.

"I think it's Steven's boy... hey, do me a favor?"

"Sure, dad."

"Play nice?"

I grabbed an apple from the counter and walked to the door, I took a quick bite, twisted the door knob and with my mouth full said, "Don't I always?"

Vincent was leaning on the passenger door of his car when I walked up to him, wearing a leather jacket and a smirk.

"Sup?" I said, taking another bite of the apple.

"Your dad wants us to play nice. I have to say, I don't mind in the slightest." He stepped closer to me, whispering the last part in my ear.

"Well," I whispered back, "No one asked you. Now are you going to open the door for me, or are you just going to stand there?"

He chuckled and nodded, opening the door of his flashy vehicle with a sweep of his hand and a bow.

Playing along, I curtsied back at him and stepped into the car like the elegant and classy woman that I am.

Not without bumping my head into the side of the car, of course. Couldn't leave that out.

"OW!" I screamed, clutching the side of my head in pain as Vincent closed my door and laughed uproariously at my pain.

Once he was in the car and settled down, and by 'settled down' I mean reduced to short bouts of chuckling, he looked me dead in the eye and said, "How is it you have not put yourself in a coma?"

"Raw talent, I guess."

He started up the car and pulled out of the driveway.

Before I knew it, this mofo was going 75 miles an hour, twisting and turning through the wooded roads of Forks, Washington, and seriously getting ready to kill me.

"Seriously dude, my dad's a cop. It's kind of in my blood to obey the rules of the road... you know, like the speed limit." I tried incredibly hard to stop my foot from pressing down on an invisible gas pedal, and failed.

"What are you going to do, tell on me?"

"Not at all... I'm just saying. It's easy to get caught. Officers lurk in the corners all the time to just wait for idiots to speed through."

"Please... the only way I'd get caught was if I wanted to. And even if I did, I wouldn't get in trouble."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I arched an eyebrow at him, intrigued.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and grinned, he looked mischievous and that itself made me anxious.

"Watch."

And with that word he put the gas pedal to the floor, speeding around turn after turn down the winding road. Trees passed us in a blur and I could feel my heart racing faster. It had hardly been 2 minutes before we heard the blaring sound of police sirens behind us.

"YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? What if that's my dad?! Or someone that can and _will_ tell my dad? What if they give you a ticket? Oh my gosh, you are so stu-" I cut myself off when I saw that Vincent was desperately trying to hold back laughter. His face would be purple if he wasn't so…. Dead.

"What?" I spoke through gritted teeth.

He just shrugged. "Watch."

The officer walked up to the car and rapped on the window 3 times. As Vincent rolled down the window, I could feel my heart beating excruciatingly fast and I started to contemplate the idea that I was maybe having a panic attack.

"Now son, would you like to explain while you were going 160 in a 45?" His badge read Hart, but his tone said Douche.

Vincent gave a smile, looked the officer dead in his eyes, and said, "No I cannot. Can you get on your knees and cluck like a chicken?"

And to my astonishment, the man actually did it. His eyes were blank, his knees were on the ground, and he was clucking as if he actually believed he was a chicken.

"Now," Vincent began, "Stand up, and do your best _Scarface_ impression."

"Say hello, to my little friend! I kill a communist for fun, but for a green card, I gonna carve him up real nice. You know what? Fuck you! How about that?" He was switching scenes, back and forth, pantomiming gun sounds and walking around as if he had a cigar in his hand or mouth.

I couldn't believe it. He told me that vampire abilities came something special, but mind control? It made Vincent just that much more dangerous.

"Now, are those doughnuts I smell in the back seat of the patrol car?" Vincent asked, seemingly already knowing the answer to the question. Officer Hart just nodded his head, compliant.

"Go fetch them for me and afterwards, get back into your car and forget that you ever saw us, capiche?" He chuckled, laughing at his own pun.

Sooner than I thought possible, Vincent had a box full of a half a dozen assorted doughnuts, and we were on our way to school again.

"For you milady." He opened the box and presented them to me as if they were buried treasure.

"I'm not eating those." I was indignant. What he did was downright cruel, no matter how funny it was. That man was an officer of the law. He deserved to be treated with respect.

Or something along those lines.

"Oh come on, Isa_. You_ asked! Think of it as a demonstration. That guy doesn't know what happened to him and he won't remember a thing." He tilted his head towards me and gave me a pitiful look.

"Promise?" I asked, with my arms crossed over my chest and a look of uncertainty on my face. It was angry uncertainty though. Believe that.

"Promise." He smiled at me, a Cheshire grin lighting up his face and showing a hint of dimples on his cheeks.

Huh…. Wonder how I never noticed those before.

I stuck my pinkie out at him and after an endearing roll of his eyes, he locked fingers with mine and we drove the rest of the way to school in silence.

After a normal exhausting day at school, I was waiting outside by Vincent's car when I overheard a group of sophomores a few feet away say may name.

"Yeah, that's her."

"The one that dated the douchebag hottie?"

"Cullen. That was his name. Yeah I heard that he dumped her in the forest and they had everyone out looking for her for like three days. And then she went crazy and started cutting herself."

"I was there asshat. It was only a few hours."

"I haven't seen any cuts on her."

"That's because she wears that gross ass hoodie all the time."

"Will you keep it quiet? What if she hears us?"

"Too fucking late!" I yelled out. I looked directly into the eyes of the _asshat_ who called me crazy and flipped him off.

Talking shit behind my back was one thing. I knew what people thought, I wasn't blind. But to do it to my face was just rude, and I don't tolerate disrespect like that.

Even if they were just rumors.

Just then Vincent was at my side. "Are you alright? I heard everything they were saying. If you need me to, just say the word, I'll find a dark alley, some pepper spray, a bonfire and I can have a couple of wild hogs here in less than 36 hours."

I just shook my head slowly and walked around the car to the passenger seat and waited for him to open the door.

After that the car ride was silent. It wasn't Vincent's fault either. He tried talking to me about it, cracking jokes, he even turned on the radio. I turned it back off.

I had spaced out for about five minutes when I realized that we weren't heading in the direction of my house.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to my place."

"Your…. Apartment?"

"That would be my place."

"I thought I told you, Vinny-"

He cut me off by swerving the car to the side of the road and killing the engine.

"Look, Isa, I know I may not be a stand-up guy, or exactly what you would call responsible. I never claimed to be any of those things. But I am fiercely loyal and protective of my friends. I hate seeing you like this so just…. Just let me make it better?"

I had to admit I was moved. And extremely shocked. So I just nodded my head and allowed him to take me to his apartment where I'd be alone with him. Alone as in _alone._

_With no one to hear me scr-_

Okay this was getting out of hand.

The drive didn't take as long as I would have imagined and before I knew it, Vincent was unlocking the door to his new place.

It looked like the inside of a boys mind. Chaos.

No really. There was a pool table, black leather couches, a chandelier made out of what looked like light sabers, and a fish tank… that was in the shape of a fish.

_I shit you not._

_Okay…. Maybe I am crazy. _

"Sit." He commanded. I sat down on the uncomfortable couch of _man _and huffed out a breath of air.

Vincent went into the back room and came back with a guitar and a stool. He sat it down in front of me, with a pick in his mouth and perched himself carefully on the seat.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my face heating up.

"I... am going to serenade you with the sultry sound of my timeless, classic, vampiric voice and musical talents of the ages. "

"_No_ thank you." I scoffed, casting my eyes downward to the red carpet. It looked soft, almost like fur, and my foot made patterns in the fabric, which distracted me until Vincent spoke again.

"I'm afraid that you don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice."

"Not in this house. This isn't a democracy. Call me Castro mothafucka."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, toeing my shoes off and pulling knees to my chest.

"Now, shut up Isa. And listen."

And so he began. He plucked deliberate strings, playing a melody so soft and calming that I laid my head on my knees and closed my eyes. Savoring the moment. _I mean, if he was going to make me sit through this song, I might as well enjoy it. _

"My ship went down  
In a sea of sound."

His voice was better than the last time I heard it. Not harsh and angry as before, but smooth and vulnerable.

"When I woke up alone I had everything:  
A handful of moments I wished I could change  
And a tongue like a nightmare that cut like a blade."

My ears perked up and my body tensed. Although the words were beautiful, the meaning behind them were cutting. And I couldn't decide if Vinny was trying to be sweet or cruel.

"Give me therapy.  
I'm a walking travesty  
But I'm smiling at everything.  
Therapy...  
You were never a friend to me  
And you can keep all your misery."

I buried my face into my knees as tears streamed down my eyes. _Why was he doing this? _Didn't he understand that this hurt? That I wasn't ready to face that part of my past just yet?

"My lungs gave out  
As I faced the crowd.  
I think that keeping this up could be dangerous."

It was dangerous. I don't even know how I managed to stay up right half the time, much less make new friends or go to school. I was wasting away my life in this misery.

"I'm flesh and bone,  
I'm a rolling stone  
And the experts say I'm delirious."

That couldn't have been truer. I mean, I wasn't going to Dr. McKenzie for nothing and even the kids at school knew I wasn't exactly normal.

"Give me therapy.  
I'm a walking travesty  
But I'm smiling and everything.  
Therapy...  
You were never a friend to me  
And you can take back your misery."

I could feel my face getting hot as I registered the meaning of the words. You can take back your fucking misery. I don't want it anymore. What's the point anyway, if you were never coming back? If you don't_ want _me anymore?

"Arrogant boy,  
Love yourself so no one has to.  
They're better off without you.  
They're better off with-"

"Stop." I said softly. I looked up slowly to see his eyes pinned on mine.

"That's enough. I don't need to hear anymore." I stood and stretched. "I think I'd like to go home now."

"Look Isa, I didn't mean to offend you, really. I just thought that maybe it was time for you to put some things into perspective, you know?"

"Yeah, well that choice really isn't up to you, is it? Take. Me. Home." And with that I walked over and threw open the door, only to find a tiny woman fidgeting with the keys to get into her house.

"Hi! I'm Bree, you with Vin?" Her smile was bright, almost blinding. It was disgusting.

"Fuck off." I spat, and took off down the hallway.

I could hear Vincent muttering a quick apology before sprinting off behind me.

"Really, Bella? What the fuck?" I could hear the harsh tone in his voice as he said my name. I decided I liked it better when he called me 'Isa'.

I shook my head and sped walked the rest of the way to the car. I impatiently waited for him to open the door for me and as he walked around to his side of the vehicle, I couldn't help but notice how childish I was being. Literally throwing a temper tantrum.

_Well, too late to turn back now._

He drove fast and recklessly all the way back to my house, and when we pulled into my drive way, he cut the engine and turned to me, ready to begin some sort of apology or explanation or whatever. Obviously, I wasn't having it, because after I gave him a curt 'thank you' I got out of his car and walked into my house.

Now I'm laying in my bed, replaying the entire day in my head and I find that there's something not right about the events that transpired.

And then it hits me.

_Can Vincent use his mind control on me? And has he?_

**(A/N Alright guys I KNOW it's been like a year since we've (I've) updated and I feel absolutely terrible. There really is no excuse for it, so I'm just going to apologize and hope that this chapter makes up for it. **

**-**TheSheWolf

**Yeah, well, you should feel terrible Aisha. However, since you did such a good job, I think we can all forgive her. Good job my wonderful Twin. Its my turn now mothafuckas! Hopefully it's not another year before I'm done...**

**-**ECG000

**That being said, I think we'd be more likely to update another chapter sooner of we got to maybe 25 reviews? The sooner it happens, the sooner you get your chapter! SO REVIEW! It really helps and we love seeing your feedback.**

**With love, **TwilightTwinz**)**


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